Harry Potter: A School Romance
by Cheta
Summary: Love in a whole new light. Mystery that could kill. Adventure that's worth the risk. See what happens when Harry returns to Hogwarts for the last time. Will he face Voldemort at last or is that in the future? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

Note from Author: This story spin off is my idea and all the characters belong to their rightful owners. Sorry if some of the characters seem out of persona, but sometimes you have to do that to get the story right.

Harry Potter

School Romance

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful summer morning as Harry woke to the banging of his aunt's fist on his bedroom door. As he rolled over he heard her yell, "Get up now!" Harry let out a moan as he sat up. He quickly grabbed his glasses and began to get dressed.

Over the summer, Harry had become accustomed once again to his aunt waking him up with her shrill voice. He slowly opened the door and proceeded down the stairs. As he entered the kitchen, the smell of bacon and hashbrownes filled his nose. To Harry's surprise, Uncle Vernon was smiling at him. This truly confused Harry as he sat down.

"Good morning, Harry," said Vernon, looking at him from the paper. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," said Harry as Aunt Petunia put a large plate in front of him. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"No reason," said Vernon as he drank his coffee. "Eat up. Your too skinny."

Harry looked from his uncle to his aunt and back to his uncle. Without another word, he started eating. As he ate his breakfast, his cousin Dudley came into the room. Dudley stared at his skinny cousin and then sat down in an empty chair with a thud. Before Dudley could utter a word, his mother placed a large plate of food before him.

"Your mother is going to take you shopping this afternoon, Dudley," said Vernon. "You'll be going with them too, Harry."

Harry and Dudley both looked sharply at Uncle Vernon and then at each other. "Yes, sir," said Harry, turning back to his breakfast.

"Why does he get to come with us?" squawked Dudley. "Can't he just stay here?"

Uncle Vernon looked at Dudley with a very stern look. For the first time, Vernon actually used a very stern voice with his spoiled son. "Don't argue with me, Dudley," said his father. "He's going and that's that."

Dudley looked at his father with a look of absolute horror on his face. His father had never spoken to him like that before. With this new turn of events Dudley actually didn't start screaming or throwing a fit. He just sat there eating his breakfast.

"Well I better get busy," said Vernon putting down the paper. "I have to get to work."

"You have a wonderful time, dear," said Petunia, kissing him on the cheek. "Harry, I want you to do the dishes once you're done eating. Dudleykins, I want you to go clean your room."

"What! Clean my room? Why should I?" spat Dudley.

"You will do as your mother and I tell you," roared Vernon leaving the room.

Dudley, now turnip red, followed his father out of the room. The two stormed up the stairs, their yelling continued until a door slammed and then another door slammed shut. After a couple minutes, Harry and Petunia, both, let out a long and slow breath.

It confused Harry that his aunt and uncle were being so nice to him and so strict with their own son whom they have pampered since he was born. Harry didn't pursue the matter for fear that it may all be some cruel joke or something. Once done with his breakfast, he quickly did the dishes and then went in search of his aunt.

He found her sitting in the living room reading one of her gossip magazines. As he entered the room, she looked up and stared at him.

"Yes," she said. "Are you done already with the dishes?"

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said politely. "What else would you like me to do?"

Harry thought that since she was going to be nice, he would be nice and help around the house. Aunt Petunia's eyes grew wider. She set down the magazine and looked at him.

"What do you mean, dear?" she asked.

_That's a first_, thought Harry, _she actually said dear instead of something rude_. _I'll just be nice and help out today_.

"Is there something else you need done that I can help with?" asked Harry.

Petunia smiled and said, "No, there's nothing else you can help with. Why don't you go get ready to go shopping."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," said Harry, quickly leaving the room.

Harry quietly climbed the stairs and went in his room. As he entered his room, a snowy white owl flew silently into the room and perched itself on the back of his chair. In her beak was a piece of parchment paper and a package attached to her leg.

"Good morning, Hedwig," said Harry, taking the letter from her. "From Hermione I see."

Hedwig gently nipped his hand affectionately as he untied the parcel from her and place it on the desk. Harry opened the drawer and pulled out an owl treat. As she hopped back into her cage, he held it out for her. Once she took it, he sat down on the bed and opened the letter.

Dear Harry,

How is your summer going? I got your letter. My parents want to meet your aunt and uncle. When would be a good time for us to visit? Or should we just drop by? Please write me back as soon as you can. Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your present and don't let your aunt and uncle ruin your day.

Love,

Hermione

Harry set aside the letter and opened the package. Inside the box were several chocolate covered frogs, a bag of Bertie Bots Every Flavored Beans, a couple cauldron cakes, and a black leather book. Ignoring the sweets, Harry's hand went straight to the book. The book was covered in smooth black leather and on the front was a gold design of a snitch.

"Wow," said Harry running his hand over the cover.

The book gave a sudden shudder in his hands. Harry narrowed his eyes and looked at the book. Hermione was known to give books filled with way too much knowledge than he would ever use. Carefully, he opened the book. To his surprise the pages were blank. On the very first lined page was another note from Hermione.

Dear Harry,

I hope you like this journal. The cover is dragon skin and I thought you might like the gold snitch on the front. Watch it cause it moves. I hope you noticed, when you spoke, the journal give a shudder. It took me a while to find someone to put a spell on it so that only you can open it. I finally went to Professor Lupin and he helped me. Well enjoy.

Love,

Hermione

Harry smiled as he pulled out a quill, a bottle of ink, and a piece of parchment. He quickly moved to his desk and began to write a letter in response to Hermione.

Hermione,

Thank you for the journal and sweets, I really like the journal. The spell should keep people from reading it. Can't wait to see everyone at school. Last year already. Can you believe it? In response to your parents wanting to meet my aunt and uncle, I don't know if that's really a good idea. If you want to chance it, come by on Sunday. They might get along since your parents are muggles. They don't like magic folks. Call before you come so that they can be ready for you. 555-5555

Harry

Harry quickly folded the letter and walked over to Hedwig. She looked at him with her large amber eyes as she climbed onto his arm.

"Take this to Hermione," Harry said as she took the note from him. "Please be careful."

With a single nod, she was off. Barely moving her wings as she soared through the sky. Once she was out of sight, Harry returned his attention to the many sweets that lay on the bed. He decided to give a chocolate frog to his cousin, Dudley, to see his reaction. Quickly, he stuffed one in his pocket and sneaked out of his room.

"Hey, Dudley," said Harry as he watched his cousin move things to the sides of the room with his feet.

"What do you want, twig?" hissed Dudley. "Well?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted some chocolate?" Harry asked pulling the chocolate frog from his pocket. "I promise it's not poisoned or jinxed."

"What is it?" asked Dudley looking at him suspiciously.

"It's called a chocolate frog," said Harry holding it out. "Watch out when you open it. It'll try and jump away from you."

Dudley's eyes widened at those words. "You got another one?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Harry showing him the one in his hand. "Want me to show you how to do it?"

Dudley nodded and Harry opened the package. There sitting on his palm was a chocolate frog. His cousin's eyes widened as the candy creature began to move. Harry quickly closed his hand around the frog and it stopped moving. As Harry opened his hand, the frog hardened and ceased to move.

"See," said Harry, taking a bite. "It's only an enchantment."

For a moment, Harry thought his cousin was going to throw the chocolate at him and start yelling. But instead he opened the package and did just as his skinny cousin had. He closed his eyes as he took a bite from the candy.

"That's good," said Dudley. "Got any more?"

"No but I might buy you some when I go to school," said Harry, knowing that he'd buy only one of a couple things for his pig like cousin.

_Tap_._ Tap_. The two young men looked at the window, there stood a tawny barn owl with a letter in its beak, and a parcel attached to its leg. Harry jumped over the clutter on the floor and opened the window. The owl stuck out its leg as Harry took the letter from its mouth. Once the parcel was untied from the owl's leg, the bird took off to the air and disappeared into the sky.

"Who's it from?" asked Dudley curiously.

Harry looked at the letter and then the parcel. "The letters from Hagrid and the parcel is from Ron," he said.

"Is there chocolate in it?" asked Dudley.

"I don't know," said Harry. "If there is I'll share."

Dudley face lit up as Harry returned to his room. Once in his room, Harry closed the door and sat on the bed. As he opened the parcel, he heard his aunt yelling for him and Dudley. Harry quickly slipped on his sneakers and went down stairs. There standing at the front door was Aunt Petunia with her sweater and purse in hand.

"Time to go shopping boys," she said. "Hurry up and get in the car."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," said Harry opening the door for her.

Without a word, Petunia walked outside with Dudley right behind her. Harry quickly closed the door and followed them down the path to the car. Once in the car, Petunia turned the radio to her favorite gossip channel. No one said a word as they drove down the road.

"Not a word is to be said inside," said Petunia as they climbed out of the car. "I mean it or else that person will be eating very little for a while."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," said Harry.

Harry knew that Dudley would have to say a word sooner or later. Either telling his mother he wanted something or protesting something she picked out for him. As they entered the store, their ears were met by the wails of small children.

"Harry, we're going to get you some cloths first," Petunia said as they entered the men's department.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

By the time they were done shopping for Harry, he had six new pairs of jeans, twelve new shirts, two pairs of tennis shoes, a dark blue windbreaker, and a black baseball cap. They continued shopping, buying Dudley a new pair of pants, a shirt, and a new CD. To Harry's surprise, his cousin did not say a word the entire time they were in the store, but once they were in the car he started complaining about his mother buying Harry so many things and only three things for him. Petunia ignored her son even when they got home. Once again there were doors slamming shut but this time it was only Dudley.

"Make yourself something for lunch," Petunia said to Harry as she went outside to her garden.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said going into the kitchen.

Once he had made himself a sandwich, Harry hurried up to his room and locked the door. He pulled the parcel and letter out from under his bed. Harry opened the letter and quickly read it.

Dear Harry,

Happy birthday!

I've got your present here at Hogwarts for when you arrive.

Hope the muggles are treating you right.

All the best,

Hagrid

Harry smiled. _I wonder what Hagrid got me_, thought Harry as he held Ron's present in his hands. Quickly, he tore off the brown paper from the parcel and opened the box. There were more kinds of sweet than in Hermione's but Harry didn't mind. Under all the candy was a box titled Skiving Snackbox along with a tin of home made fudge from Mrs. Weasley.

"Business must be good right now," said Harry removing the candy from the box before closing it up. "Let's see what Ron has to say."

Harry,

Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy your birthday present. Fred and George added the Snackbox after mum had checked it. Hope your summers going great. Everyone's home for the summer even Charlie even though he's been disappearing a lot lately. See ya soon, mate.

Ron

P.S.

Everyone says hello.

Harry smiled as he began to pack his things in his trunk. He knew that soon he would be leaving to spend another summer at the Burrow or at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. He preferred the Burrow to the old Black house, probably because it felt homier. There was no reason for Harry to go back there since it held so many memories of his godfather, Sirius Black. Once everything was put away, he pulled out a quill, ink, and a piece of parchment paper and began to write a letter to Ron.

Ron,

Thanks for the present. Tell Fred and George thanks for the present too, it might come in handy for Snape's class. Everything's going fine here. My aunt and uncle are actually being nice to me for a change. Are you glad that this is our last year at Hogwarts? Did Hermione tell you? Her parents want to meet my aunt and uncle. I hope Uncle Vernon doesn't go crazy like he did when he met your father.

Harry

Harry waited until dust before Hedwig returned from Hermione's with a letter in her beak. He petted her as he took the letter. She gave a loving hoot as she shook her body.

"Are you willing to take this to Ron tonight?" he asked her, holding up the new letter. "Or do you want to wait until morning?"

Hedwig gave another hoot before taking the letter in her beak and soaring off into the night. Harry watched her once again before sitting on his bed. He opened the letter and read it.

Dear Harry,

I warned my parents about your guardians. They say they're willing to take the risk and if need be take you with us. That really caught my attention. We'll see you on Sunday then.

Love,

Hermione

Saturday night came all to quickly for Harry. He approached his aunt and uncle that night with extreme caution. After Dudley had gone to bed for the night, he decided to talk to his aunt and uncle about Hermione and her parents visit the next day. Harry stood in the living room entryway until his nerves got the better of him. As he turned to go to bed his uncle noticed him.

"What do you want, boy?" asked Vernon.

Uncle Vernon's face wasn't hard like it usually was when he thought Harry was sneaking around. Harry slowly walked into the room and looked at the television quickly before looking at his uncle.

"Well," said Vernon.

"I wanted to ask you something, if that's alright with you," said Harry.

"What is it?" asked Vernon, his eyes narrowing.

"A friend's parents want to meet you and Aunt Petunia," said Harry, quickly adding, "they're not like me."

Vernon went to speak but decided not to. Instead he thought for a moment and then said, "Your friend's parents aren't like you? They're...normal?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"But your friend is like you," Vernon said.

"Yes," said Harry.

"What is your friend's mum like?" asked Petunia looking away from the television.

"My friend's parents are both dentists," said Harry. "They're tall, thin couple. Reddish brown hair, and very nice."

"Hm," said Petunia turning back to the television.

"Alright," said Vernon with a smile. "Are they coming tomorrow?"

"Yes, sir," said Harry. "I told them to call before they came so that we could be ready for them. Is that okay?"

"You actually used your head for once, boy," said Vernon. "Go to bed. You need all the sleep you can get for tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," said Harry.

Harry slept very well that night, but there was something nagging in the back of his mind. Something that seemed to be very important for some reason. The next morning, Harry woke to a hooting noise coming from beside his bed. When he opened his eyes, there was his pet and best friend, Hedwig.

Her amber eyes glittered in the morning light. She gave another low hoot and looked at the door. Harry climbed out of bed and quickly got dressed in a new pair of jeans and a new shirt. Just as he opened the door, Aunt Petunia was making her way up the stairs to wake them. Petunia's eyes narrowed just a little as she went to wake Dudley.

"Good morning, Aunt Petunia," said Harry. "Would you like me to make breakfast or clean something?"

"Make breakfast," she said. "Then you can help clean if there's anything left."

"Sausages and pancakes?" he asked.

"That's fine and some eggs," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," he said going into the kitchen.

As Harry finished making breakfast, Uncle Vernon and Dudley came waddling into the kitchen. Harry quickly dished each plate and placed them on the table. The two looked quickly at him and then at the food. Without so much as an argument, they ate quickly. After breakfast, Harry cleaned his room and helped his aunt clean the living room. At twelve-thirty the phone rang and Vernon answered the phone. His face wrinkled as he held out the phone.

"Hello," said Harry.

"Harry," said a feminine voice.

"Yes, this is him," said Harry.

"It's Hermione," said the feminine voice.

"Oh hello," said Harry, a smile spreading across his face.

"We're leaving our house right now," said Hermione. "It is still okay if we come, isn't it?"

"Yes it is," said Harry. "We're all ready for you."

"Good," said Hermione. "Oh I have to go. My parent's are ready. See you soon. Good bye."

"Bye," said Harry hanging up the phone.

"Was that your friend?" asked Vernon.

"Yes," said Harry. "They're on their way."

"Good," said Vernon. "Go outside and do something until you see them. Go for a walk or something."

"Yes, sir," said Harry hurrying up stairs for his shoes.

As Harry reached the end of the driveway he noticed a red bird sitting upon the street sign at the end of the road. He watched the bird for a moment before starting down the road to see what it was. When he reached the sign, he noticed the bird was watching him. The bright red bird was a phoenix. But it's eyes were a pale blue color instead of black. Attached to the bird's leg was a roll of parchment tied with an emerald green ribbon.

The phoenix flapped its wings and settled down on a garden wall near by. To Harry's surprise, it held out its leg for him. He quickly took the roll of parchment and looked at the bright red bird. Around its neck was a gold chain with a hematite tag dangling from it. Harry looked closely at the tag and read:

Starla

Harry was confused about this. The only person he knew with a phoenix was Dumbledore, but its name was Fawkes. He looked at the parchment and scratched his head as he looked around to see if anyone was watching him. As Harry looked around, he noticed a small child of five or six standing across the street from him. She was dressed in a light blue dress that went to her knees, and a dark blue cloak. She had curly strawberry blond hair and freckles under her honey colored eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The small child was smiling at him and stepped behind the tree. Harry hurried across the street and looked behind the tree. To his surprise, the little girl was no where to be found. He frowned and looked up at the tree, but nothing was there. As he walked back across the street, he noticed that the phoenix too was gone. This really confused Harry.

He walked down the street until he came to the little park. Harry jumped the fence and sat down on the swing. Carefully, he opened the letter and read it.

Dear Mr. Potter,

You do not know me but I know you, or rather your parents James and Lily. I know of what you have endured while living with the Dursley's and everything you have triumphed over while at Hogwarts. I am quite sure you have many questions you wish to ask me. Starla will be glad to deliver any message to me that you have. She will return tonight. Do not worry about your location for she will know where you are. May your day go as you planned.

A Friend

Harry read the parchment two more times before stuffing it into his jean pocket. _Who was this?_ He thought. _How do they know my mother and father? How did they know about what I triumphed over at Hogwarts?_ This message confused him. _Was it the little girl I just saw or was it someone else?_

He was deep in thought when a car horn sounded somewhere near by. He looked up quickly and saw Hermione standing beside a car. She was waving at him as he jumped up and sprinted towards her.

"Harry," said Hermione as he jumped the fence. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Harry said as she hugged him. "You got here fast."

"Yeah well, I called from a payphone," she said. "Come on get in."

Harry climbed into the backseat with Hermione and they were off.

"Oh, Harry, this is my mum and dad," introduced Hermione. "Mum, dad, this is Harry."

Hermione's mother turned around in her seat and smiled at him. "Hermione speaks highly of you," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Harry."

"Thanks," said Harry. "It's nice to meet both of you, too."

"So what are your guardians like, Harry," asked Hermione's father as he turned the corner.

"It depends on what happens," said Harry. "Lately they've been really nice though."

"So towards you they're not very nice," said Hermione's mother. "How sad."

"Well they're looking forward to meeting you since you're don't have magical powers," said Hermione. "They don't like us magic users."

"Oh really," said her mum. "Why is that?"

"Harry's mum is his aunt's sister," said Hermione.

"Aunt Petunia didn't get very much attention when her parents found out that mum was a witch," said Harry. "She thought they loved mum more than her."

"That's so sad," she said. "So they pretended that you don't exist when companies over?"

"Pretty much," said Harry as Mr. Granger parked the car.

"Here we are," he said as they climbed out of the car.

As they walked up the path, the door opened and there was Uncle Vernon's pink pudgy face peering at them. "About time boy," he hissed as Harry passed him. "Please take our guests to the parlor."

"Yes, sir," said Harry leading the way.

As they entered the parlor, they found Aunt Petunia sitting in a chair by the window and Dudley was sitting on the adamant beside her. Mr. and Mrs. Granger sat on the couch and Hermione sat beside her mother and Harry beside her. Uncle Vernon was the last to enter and sat down in his chair facing the Granger's.

"Harry," said Aunt Petunia politely, "why don't you introduce us?"

"Of course, Aunt Petunia," said Harry. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Granger and their daughter Hermione. This is Petunia Dursley, Vernon Dursley, and their son Dudley."

"Very good, Harry," said Uncle Vernon. "So what do you and your wife do for a living, Mr. Granger?"

"Please call me Frank and my wife Emily," said Mr. Granger. "We're both dentists."

"Harry mentioned that when he asked if you could visit," said Vernon. "I, myself, work for a drill company."

"Drills are very important for new developments," said Emily Granger with a smile. "No matter what they are used for."

"So true," said Vernon. "So you both are non-magical folks?"

"Correct," said Frank. "We were surprised when our daughter, Hermione, received a letter from Hogwarts. Never knew there was any magical blood in our family."

"Well, magic is a very weird thing," said Vernon forcing a smile onto his face. "Harry, why don't you and your friend go up to your room while us adults talk. You too, Dudley."

"Yes, sir," said Harry jumping up. "Let's go, Hermione."

"Okay," Hermione said as they hurried from the room with Dudley behind them.

As they climbed the stairs, Dudley spoke up. "So how many magic schools are there?" he asked.

"Several," said Hermione. "I couldn't tell you exactly how many cause many of the schools are hidden and never spoken about."

"Foul thing," said Dudley as they stepped onto the landing.

"What?" asked Hermione turning on him. "Foul thing? Are you talking about us?"

All color faded from Dudley's face as he tried to speak. "N-no, not you," he said. "Please don't hurt me!"

"You better go to your room, Dudley," said Harry. "I don't know if I can hold her back if she decides to jump you. Then again I might decide to join in."

Dudley's face was horror struck as he ran into his room and closed the door. Harry laughed as he opened his bedroom door. Hermione was still angry as he closed the door behind her.

"That git," said Hermione. "How dare he said that to me."

"Dudley didn't mean it," said Harry. "It's just a bad habit of his. He's getting out of it actually since I saved his life the summer of our fifth year. It just slips out every now and then."

"He should have controlled himself," said Hermione sitting on the bed. "So this is your room. It's quite small."

"It's better than the broom closet," said Harry sitting beside her. "That's where I was before I got this room a couple years ago."

"Your aunt and uncle are such horrible people," said Hermione. "Foul people."

"They could have been worse," said Harry. "They could have put me in an orphanage and who knows who I would have ended up with then. Maybe someone far worse than the Dursley's."

"That's true," said Hermione, looking at him guiltily.

Harry took her hand into his and said, "At least I can move out at the end of this school year. Maybe that's why the Dursley's are being so nice to me."

"Yeah," she said. "Are you and Ron going to get an apartment?"

"I don't know," he said. "I was thinking about moving into Sirius' old house."

"Even thought he's not going to be there," she said.

Everyone knew how close Harry and Sirius had grown since they had met each other two years earlier. Hermione had grown closer to Harry since his godfather's death at the Ministry of Magic. Harry confided things with her that he thought his good friend Ron would not understand. Even though they both were wizards, Ron still didn't understand things like Hermione who was raised like a muggle.

Something rested on Harry's shoulder as he looked out his window. He looked to his left and saw Hermione leaning against him. In his opinion, she seemed sadder than usual but he couldn't figure out why.

"You seem down, Hermione, why?" asked Harry. "Is it because this is our last year at Hogwarts? Or is something else bothering you, like Ron?"

"It's Ron," Hermione said standing up and walking over to the window. "I don't know if he ever told you or if you ever found out but we were going out last year."

"Yeah I know," Harry said, adding quickly, "Ron told me when I cornered him and made him tell me what was going on."

"Well Ron and I broke up," Hermione said. "He's just to childish for me. Plus he wants to know what everything is if he doesn't know what it is."

"That sounds like Ron," Harry said standing up. "I didn't think it would last very long. Is that the only reason you two broke up?"

"No, he hated the fact that I was still communication with Viktor Krum," she said. "I stopped the relationship because I liked someone else and I didn't want to hurt Ron."

"Oh," he said.

Harry had liked Hermione for a while now. She was there when things didn't work out with Cho and there was always that little spark between them ever since they met during their first year at Hogwarts. He wanted to be more than friends with this young lady. They had shared one innocent kiss at the very end of their sixth school year when Hermione had accidentally kissed him on the lips cause he turned his head when she gave him a hug.

"I see that your still keeping your hair smooth," he said to break the silence between them. "I think it looks better than before."

"So do I," she said running her hand over it quickly. "It's a forever smooth spell that I did for the Yule ball. I can still do things with it like curl it and things. It just won't be frizzy ever again."

"That's good," he said with a smile.

"Can I ask you a question, Harry?" she asked moving closer to him.

"Er...sure," he said.

"When we accidentally kissed at the end of last year, did that change the way you look at me?" she asked, looking at him shyly.

Harry had feared something like this being asked by her. His brain worked as quickly as possible.

_Tell her the truth,_ said a voice in his mind. _The truth is the only thing that'll work here right now. Tell her how you feel about her._

"Yes it did," he said looking out the window.

She then gave a small sigh and shook her head. "I thought so," she said.

"What do you mean, Hermione?" he asked looking at her.

"That kiss hurt our friendship," she said. "We'll never look at each other the same again."

"Come on, Hermione," he said. "Everything we do changes the way people look at us."

"Yeah but that kiss distanced us," she said.

"No, it hasn't. The only thing it did was make me realize how much I..." Harry's words drifted off.

Hermione looked at him and said, "Made you realize what? Please, Harry, tell me."

"It made me realize how much I actually care for you," confessed Harry. "I've kept this inside for two years now. My feeling for you have always been there but I needed something to make me see them and that kiss was what I needed."

_Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. Had he been wrong about admitting his true feeling to her? Should he have kept his mouth shut and said something else to ease her mind? No,_ he thought, _this is exactly how it was suppose to happen. But she doesn't feel the same for me._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Harry went to sit on his bed when Hermione grabbed his hand. He turned and looked at her. Her eyes were filled with tears as they looked at each other. Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione and she rested her head on his chest, since he was several inches taller than she was. She only reached the top of his shoulders when they stood side by side.

"Oh, Harry," she said. "I hope you don't feel bad about telling me how you feel."

"Of course I don't," he said pulling her away from him. "I do have feelings for you and I always will. Even if you don't share those same feeling for me."

"But I do," she said. "I want to be with you, but I feared that you didn't want to be with me -"

Before Hermione could say another word, Harry had leaned down and kissed the young girl before him. He held her tightly to him as if afraid to loose her. Hermione wrapped her arms around this young man's neck and stood on her tiptoes to hold onto him better. Their world seemed to stop as they stood there, lips locked. When they parted, Hermione's cheeks were flushed and there was a child like smile on her face.

"Did you like that?" asked Harry.

"Yes, I did," Hermione said, sitting on the bed. "Are you excited about your Apparition test?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Are you?"

"Of course I am," said Hermione. "Actually, Mr. Weasley wants to take you and me so that we can get that done."

"When?" asked Harry.

"Two days," said Hermione. "That's actually why I'm here. But my parents really do want to get to know your aunt and uncle. My dad's going to ask if we can take you for the rest of the summer holiday and I do hope your uncle says yes."

"I don't know, Hermione," Harry said. "He's been rather nice lately but I don't know how long it will last."

"It doesn't hurt to ask," she said. "So do you have everything packed?"

"Yeah, actually I packed everything last night," he said sticking his hands in his pocket.

As he slipped his hand into his pocket, he felt a piece of parchment and remembered the letter that the Phoenix had delivered to him. He pulled it out and looked at it. The image of the little girl floated back into his mind as he stared at the parchment.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"It's a letter I got today while waiting for you," Harry said absently, still staring at the parchment. "A Phoenix delivered it."

"You mean Fawkes," said Hermione surprised. "But I thought Dumbledore wanted to keep communications quiet for a while between you two?"

"It wasn't Fawkes," Harry said. "Fawkes has black eyes. This Phoenix had pale blue eyes and wore a gold chain with a tag on it. Her name was Stella."

"Well," said Hermione, taking the letter, "Phoenixes are very rare. So who do we know that has a Phoenix besides Dumbledore?"

"No one," said Harry sitting beside her.

There came a gentle knock at the door. Harry jumped up and answered it. Standing on the other side of the door was Hermione's mother with a broad smile on her face. Harry opened the door and stepped back to allow her to come in.

"My this is a cozy little room," Emily Granger said looking around. "Are you two ready to go?"

"They said he could come," said Hermione jumping to her feet.

"Yes," Emily said, noticing the birdcage. "You have a bird. What kind is it?"

Just then, Harry's snowy white owl, Hedwig, flew into the room and perched herself on his shoulder. With a quiet hoot, Hedwig nipped at Harry's ear.

"This is Hedwig," said Harry. "She's my owl. Hedwig, this is Mrs. Granger. She's Hermione's mum."

Hedwig gave a friendly hoot and bobbed her head up and down. "She's so adorable," said Emily. "Well we better be going."

Harry quickly placed Hedwig in her cage and Mrs. Granger took her and went downstairs. Hermione helped Harry carry his trunk down the flight of stairs and out the door to the car. As Hermione closed the trunk of the car, Uncle Vernon and Frank Granger walked out of the house laughing. Uncle Vernon shook Frank's hand and closed the door.

"How rude. Not even a good bye to their nephew," said Emily as she climbed into the car. "Well this should be fun. Hermione, dear, when did Mr. Weasley say he would be coming to pick you and Harry up?"

"Tonight around ten," said Hermione, looking out the window.

"Well you better get some sleep, it's going to be three and a half hours before we get home," Frank said, "and it's getting dark already."

Hermione looked at her father and then leaned against Harry's shoulder. One of her small hands quickly found his and she entangled her fingers with his. She looked up at Harry and smiled. He returned the smile and a faint blush crept across her cheeks.

Soon the sun had completely disappeared and they were all plunged into darkness. Hermione was sound asleep within minutes and was curled up in the seat beside Harry with her head on his leg. As Harry petted her smooth brown hair, he looked out the window and wondered what would happen if Hermione and him were to get really serious about each other.

Harry wanted to be with her. He wanted Hermione as his girlfriend. He wants to express the feeling for her the way they should be. He looked at her and smiled. She looked like a sleeping child all curled up on the seat beside him.

Finally, after almost three and a half-hours on the road, they pulled into the driveway. Harry woke Hermione and they climbed out of the car with Hedwig in hand. Mr. Granger helped Harry carry his trunk into the house and they set it down beside the fireplace. Mrs. Granger and Hermione ran upstairs and several minutes later came back with her trunk and set it down with Harry's.

"Well your mother and I are going to bed," Frank said. "You two have fun for the rest of the summer holidays and have fun at school. We'll see you two at end of the year."

"Okay," said Hermione giving her parents hugs and kisses, "good night."

"Good night," her parents said as they disappeared upstairs.

"I do hope Mr. Weasley gets here on time," Hermione said sitting beside Harry on the couch.

"You know Mr. Weasley will be late," Harry said wrapping his arm around her as she curled up beside him.

"Your right," Hermione said looking at him.

Harry leaned down and kissed her. When he pulled back, Hermione had a child like grin on her face as she curled up beside him. Hermione leaned forward and picked up the TV remote. She turned it on and flipped through the channels until she came to the news.

"Thank you for joining us tonight," said the news anchor. "Tonight we will be covering strange happenings."

"What do you consider strange?" said Hermione chastising the television. "Sorry, bad habit I have about watching the news these days."

"It's ok," said Harry. "I've been listening to it all summer too."

"Last night there was an unexpected meteor shower all over England," said the anchor. "This also happened sixteen years ago, I'm told. What could it be? Could we be in the path of some asteroids that have never been found before? From what we've hear, and seen, these shooting stars are of different colors like none we've ever seen. Blue, pink, green, and red colored shooting stars have been reported being seen over London last night."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Multi colored shooting stars? "Dumbledore's not going to like this one bit," said Hermione.

"This happened one time sixteen years ago?" said Harry, thinking. "Back in the summer of our fifth year I remember someone telling me about the night when Voldemort disappeared. The sky was filled with shooting stars cause everyone was celebrating his supposed death."

"Do you think people could be celebrating as a type of anniversary?" asked Hermione, looking at him. "Are there people out there who still don't know that He's back?"

"They know but they're choosing not to accept it," said a voice from behind them.

Harry and Hermione spun around and there stood Mr. Weasley with a sober look on his face. He looked even more tired than usual.

"Well are you two ready to go?" asked Mr. Weasley giving the two a smile.

"Yes," said Hermione as she and Harry stood up.

Mr. Weasley quickly reached into his robe and pulled out a black dragon skin pouch filled with Floo powder. "Harry, you go first," Mr. Weasley said, helping Harry put his trunk into the fireplace.

Harry took a hand full of Floo powder and said clearly, as he threw down the green powder, "the Burrow."

Green flames engulfed Harry and his trunk as he began to spin faster and faster. Harry closed his eyes tightly and held his trunk close to his body. When he stopped spinning, he opened his eyes as saw five pairs of eyes watching him.

"Hello, Harry," said Bill, helping Harry with his trunk. "Have a nice trip?"

"Yeah," Harry said stepping out of the fireplace.

Several candles dimly lighted the kitchen. A handful of people were sitting around the old wood table in the center of the room. Harry recognized Charlie, Ron, and Ginny but there was someone new sitting between Charlie and Ginny. She had long black hair with bright red streaks running through it and her eyes were a pale gray color that made her look almost blind from far away. She was wearing a dark green dragon skin trench coat over a black tank top and tight, low riding dark blue jeans and a pair of leather high heels. Her right eyebrow was pierced and her ears were both pierced all the way to the top.

"Nice to see you again, Harry," said Charlie. "Been a while."

"Yeah," Harry said, "good to see you, too."

There was another whoosh and Hermione appeared in the fireplace with her trunk. Bill quickly pulled her trunk out as Harry helped her out of the fireplace. A loud cracking noise filled the room and Mr. Weasley appeared at the end of the table. He looked very tired as he looked around the room.

"Everyone better get to bed before your mom gets up and chases you off," Mr. Weasley said with a yawn. "Make sure your quiet going up the stairs. Don't want to wake anyone, now."

"Fred and George are in my room," said Ron. "Since Bill, Charlie, and his lady friend are here."

"Okay," Bill said pulling out his wand. "Locomotor trunks."

Both of Harry and Hermione's trunks lifted off the ground several inches and followed Bill upstairs as everyone followed him. Hermione and Ginny departed first and soon it was only Ron and Harry as they carried Harry's trunk into Ron's room. There sitting on the floor at the end of the bunk bed were Fred and George writing frivolously. The twins looked up quickly at them and then returned to their work.

Harry looked at Ron and said, "Orders?"

"Yep," Ron said as they set Harry's trunk with Ron's. "How long have you two been working on those?"

Fred stopped writing and thought for a moment before saying, "Almost three hours."

"I'm going to bed," said Ron as he changed into his pajamas.

Harry followed suit and soon both were in bed and fast asleep within minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was around two in the morning when the door to Ron's room slowly creaked open. Harry slowly opened his eyes and looked at the door. A small figure was peering into the room. Slowly, the figure entered the room, closed the door, and walked over to the twins.

"Fred," said the figure quietly.

The figure was a small child.

"Fred," said the small child.

The child was a little girl.

"Hm," said Fred. "What is it? Are you okay, Blythe?"

"I had a bad dream," Blythe said. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Did you go to your mum?" asked Fred.

"I don't know where she is," said Blythe, her voice trembling on the verge of crying.

"It's okay," said George quietly. "You can sleep with us."

"Come on," Fred said, sitting up. "Lay down."

Blythe quickly laid down and Fred covered her with the blanket he shared with his twin brother. Harry listened as the twins talked with the little girl.

"What was your dream about?" asked Fred.

"I was in the woods and mommy was there and you were there and Charlie was there and Bill was there," said Blythe. "Then a man in black appeared and you all fell to the ground. Then the man in black started chasing me. When he caught me, he turned into a black snake with a green skull on top of his head. That's when I woke up."

"Why didn't you wake Ginny up?" asked George in a drowsy voice.

"You know Blythe doesn't like Ginny very much," said Ron, who sounded annoyed. "She likes you better, Fred."

"I think everyone's awake now," said George, sitting up. "You awake, Harry."

"Yeah," Harry said sitting up. "I woke when she opened the door."

"I'm sorry," Blythe said. "I didn't mean to wake everyone."

"It's okay, Blythe," said Fred, "you're not in trouble."

"Can we get some light in here?" asked Ron.

"Sure," George said climbing out of bed.

Once George found a few candles, he lit them and set them all around the room. Harry slipped on his glasses and moved down to the floor. Ron soon followed and Fred sat up and Blythe curled up his lap. In the dim light, Harry couldn't make out the little girl's features.

"Oh, Harry, this is Blythe," said Fred. "She's Charlie's girlfriend's daughter."

"Hello," Harry said with a smile.

"Hello," Blythe said.

Fred smiled down at the small child as he petted her long hair. She was dressed in a pale green nightgown.

"So how's business?" asked Harry.

"Pretty good," said George. "Did you get our present?"

"Yeah, it's in my trunk," Harry said with a grin.

"Does your cousin still look like a pig wearing cloths?" asked Ron.

"No," said Harry. "Ever since Aunt Petunia found out he was eating food that wasn't part of his diet during last summer, she's put him on a stricter diet and he's lost loads of weight."

"Do you mind if we send him some sweets?" asked Fred with a sly grin on his face.

"I think mum and dad would kill you if you do that," said Ron.

Suddenly, there came a low humming sound from under Blythe's hair. Fred quickly picked up what appeared to be a round custard-colored hairball.

"Puffy," Blythe said taking the hairball into her hands.

"What is that?" asked Harry, watching the little girl toss the custard-colored thing into the air and then catching it.

"It's a Puffskein," said Ron. "I use to have one until Fred used it for Bludger practice."

"Hey I didn't know," said Fred, sounding hurt.

"Does it really like to be thrown around like that?" Harry asked as Blythe tossed the hairball to George.

"Yeah," said George tossing it back to Blythe. "It loves to be tossed and cuddled."

"Catch," Blythe said tossing the Puffskein to Harry.

Harry caught the Puffskein and looked at it. He could hear the low humming coming for it. He tossed it to Ron, who tossed it to Fred, then George, and back to Blythe.

There came a gentle knock on the door and Charlie pocked his head into the room. "So you all are up," he said coming into the room.

"What are you doing up, Charlie?" asked Blythe.

"Your mum wants to see you," Charlie said as she climbed into his arms. "See you guys in the morning."

Charlie and Blythe left the room and everyone looked at each other. "Oh well," Fred said lying down. "Good night."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then Fred, and then George. "He's attached," George said. "I'm going to bed too."

Harry and Ron climbed back into their beds and also fell asleep.

It was about eight the next morning when Harry, Ron, and the twins woke. They could hear yelling coming from down stairs. Harry sat up and saw the twins sitting up listening to the yelling.

"Mum's yelling at someone," said George, noticing Harry.

"She's yelling a Charlie and Bill," Fred said, looking confused at his brother. "What did they do?"

"Dunno," said Ron. "Let's go see."

The four of then climbed out of bed and opened the door. As they stepped into the hall, Hermione and Ginny came running up the stairs. Their faces slightly pale.

"What's mum yelling about?" asked Fred.

"Bill and Charlie were trying to talk her into letting Charlie's girlfriend change the house so that it looked nicer and had more room," said Hermione.

"I think mum's a little afraid of letting her change it," said Ginny. "Since she's a year younger than Charlie, mum thinks she's not as experienced as she should be to transfigure a house this size."

"She's more than experienced to transfigure a house this size," yelled Charlie.

"She's transfigured a house twice this size in America," said Bill just as loud.

"We've lived in this house even before you two were born," roared Mrs. Weasley. "This house is perfectly fine the way it is."

"It's cramped," said Bill and Charlie together. "Even when we come over."

"It's always been cramped," said Bill. "Come on, mum. Let Shannon transfigure it and if you don't like it she can change it back."

The house fell silent. Then Bill and Charlie came out of the kitchen and up the stairs. They all looked at them, waiting for an answer.

"She said no," said Bill with a frown.

Charlie said nothing as he passed them and went straight to the twins' room where he and Bill were sleeping.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Ron.

"Mum doesn't approve of Shannon," said Bill. "She's from America."

"What's wrong with her being from America?" asked Hermione. "I heard that American witches and wizards start learning magic from an earlier age than us."

"The American Ministry of Magic isn't as strict as ours," pointed out Bill. "Shannon's been learning magic since she was six, but didn't go to school until she was eight. See American witches and wizards are in school for ten years while we only do seven. So they know more than we do in school and mum believes that Shannon thinks she's better than we are.

"Which is not true," said Bill. "Shannon actually envies us. She's an only child and was part of a very small family where she never knew any relatives but her mum and dad. Shannon's teaching Blythe magic until she's eight. Mum thinks it's a bad idea for her to be doing that especially here in Britain cause of our Ministry, but dad sees nothing wrong with it since they're Americans and are protected by the American Ministry."

"So mum doesn't agree with anything that Shannon's doing," Ginny said summing everything up her oldest brother had just said.

"Right, so Shannon's taking Blythe home tomorrow to her mum and Charlie's hurt cause mum's not trying to get to know her," Bill said. "Well I'm going to go and try to talk to Charlie before he leaves and doesn't come back."

Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the twins' room. They all ran in there and found Charlie blasting bugs with his wand. Everyone except Bill, who wanted to talk to Charlie, left and went down stairs to the kitchen. There they found Mrs. Weasley sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea. When they entered she looked up and turned red.

"I suppose you lot all heard," she said looking at her cup.

"Kind of hard not too," said Fred. "Why don't you like Charlie's girlfriend, mum?"

Mrs. Weasley didn't speak right away. But when she did, her voice was full of anger and regret. "She believe she can raise her daughter to be a magnificent witch by teaching Blythe herself," she said. "That girl needs proper schooling. Did you know that Shannon had Blythe when she was only seventeen? She's too irresponsible. I can't believe her mother hasn't stepped in."

"Don't you think your being too hard on her?" asked Hermione. "Have you really sat down and talked with her?"

Mrs. Weasley looked at Hermione as if she had just told her she was being really foolish. Her face reddened. "No," she said.

"It's like judging a book before you've read it," said Hermione, ignoring the moans from the guys. "You can't tell what's inside by just looking at the cover. Maybe Shannon's mum isn't there or won't help her."

"Yeah, mum," said Ginny. "Maybe Shannon's just trying to be nice. While she's been here that's all she's done. She's never been mean or rude to any of us. She's helped you in the kitchen almost every night."

Mrs. Weasley went even redder. "You gave me a chance, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry. "You didn't know how I would treat you or Mr. Weasley when you took me into your home that summer. I could have been rude or mean to you both cause of what my aunt and uncle have done. But you took that chance and found out that I'm really nice. May you should give her a chance?"

"Your all right," said Mrs. Weasley looking at them. "I need to speak with Charlie."

"Be careful, mum," said Ron. "He's blasting bugs."

Mrs. Weasley hurried out of the kitchen and up the rickety stares to the twins' room. They all listened and soon the bangs stopped and the house fell silent.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

That night at dinner, Charlie was no there. He had left to go with Shannon and Blythe back to America. Mr. Weasley informed Harry, Hermione, and Ron about their Apparition test the following day.

"You three will be going with Bill and me tomorrow," said Mr. Weasley. "He's going to bring you home afterwards cause I have to work all day."

"Yes, sir," said Harry and Hermione.

"Yes, dad," said Ron.

After dinner, everyone except Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went outside to play Quidditch. The sky was a beautiful rainbow of colors.

"Come on, Hermione," said Ron. "If you play it'll be three on three."

"I've told you, Ron," Hermione said. "I don't know how to play. Even though I've watched dozens of matches."

"Fine," pouted Ron. "Who want's to sit out?"

"I will," said Harry. "I'll trade someone if they get tired."

"Okay," said Ron.

_Crack._ There stood Charlie. They were use to Bill, Charlie, the twins, and Mr. Weasley popping in and out of the house. He looked around at everyone.

"Playing Quidditch, I see," said Charlie.

"We need another player," said Fred. "Wanna play?"

"Sure," said Charlie as he headed for the door. "Let me get my broom."

"Hey, Charlie," said Harry walking over to him. "You can use my broom."

"Thanks, Harry," Charlie said taking Harry's Firebolt broom. "Let's play."

"Ok," said Bill. "Fred, George, and Ron versus me, Charlie, and Ginny."

"Why didn't you play?" asked Hermione.

"I thought you might want to spend time with me without anyone else around," Harry said smiling.

Hermione smiled as she looked at him. "Do we want to keep this from Ron?" he asked her as they sat on the grass.

"Keep what from him?" asked Hermione.

"Us being together," Harry whispered.

"Oh yes, I think we should," Hermione said, leaning against him. "He might not be too happy with us if he finds out that we're together."

"Your right," Harry said as he watched Ron defend the goal. "He's gotten better."

"Yes he has," Hermione said. "I'm so glad that Dumbledore allowed you keep playing."

"Yeah, and we got to keep Ginny on the team," said Harry, as the youngest Weasley child scored. "She's very good."

"We better figure out how we're going to be alone while at Hogwarts," Hermione whispered. "We can't really sit in the common room holding hands and kissing."

"We could use the Marauder's Map," suggested Harry. "It's always been helpful."

"Or we could use the Room of Requirements," said Hermione as Ron kicked the Quaffle straight at them. "Watch out!"

Harry jumped to his feet and grabbed the Quaffle before it hit Hermione. "Nice one, Ron," said Harry tossing it to Bill.

"Time for bed," called Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen window. "Hurry up now."

"Thank for letting me use your broom, Harry," Charlie said as he landed on the ground.

"Your welcome," Harry said as he took his broom. "So how's Blythe?"

"A little mad," said Charlie as they went inside. "She wants to go with me to Romania, but I won't let her. She's really attached to me. I'm like a father to her."

"Well that's good," Harry said. "Everyone needs a father or father figure."

"Your right," said Charlie as they started up the stairs. "Oh I've got to talk to mum about something."

With a loud crack, Charlie disappeared. Hermione quickly moved to Harry's side and pulled him into Ginny's room. Harry had never been in Ginny's room before but to his surprise it was a lot like her brothers' rooms. Quidditch posters all over the walls and a small pile of dolls sat in a corner by her closet.

"Hermione, what are you doing?" asked Harry once the door was closed.

"Ginny's outside helping Fred and George pick up and Ron's down stairs talking with Mrs. Weasley about something," said Hermione. "Just thought we'd see what it's like trying not to get caught with so many people around."

Harry gave her a sly smile as he leaned down and began to kiss Hermione. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. They both listened for footsteps on the old stairs as they hid in Ginny's bedroom. After about five minutes of kissing, Harry pulled away from Hermione and smiled at her. With a last quick kiss, Harry left the room and slipped into Ron's.

"Where did you disappear to?" asked Fred.

Harry had completely forgotten that Fred and George could Apparate to wherever they wanted. "Bathroom," lied Harry. "Why?"

"No reason just thought you wouldn't have been in here before us," George said as they slipped into their pajamas. "Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah," asked Harry as he slipped in his nightshirt.

"George and I were wondering-," started Fred.

"-If you wanted to be a partner with us," ended George.

"Of course, Lee Jordan's all ready a partner," said Fred.

"But we want you be a partner too," said George.

"So what do you say?" asked Fred.

"With your joke shop?" asked Harry sitting on his bed.

"Yeah," the twins said simultaneously.

"I'll get back to you about that," Harry said as Ron came into the room.

"Sorry about the Quaffle earlier," Ron said. "Didn't mean to kick it your way. I was trying to kick it back at Bill. It's his fault I fell off my broom."

"No it's our fault you fell off your broom," confessed Fred as he laid down. "Night."

"Night," George said, lying down too.

"Night," said Harry as Ron changed. "So what's going on between you and Hermione? Are you two still together?"

Ron looked at Harry as if he had just seen a ghost. "I don't want to talk about it," he said quickly.

"Come on, Ron, tell me," Harry said.

"Fine," Ron said sitting on Harry's bed. "We split up."

"What happened?" asked Harry, wanting to know both sides.

"I don't know," Ron said. "She said I was too childish for her. She didn't like explaining everything to me that was muggle. I didn't like the fact she was still talking to Viktor Krum. Which made things worse."

"Is that all?" asked Harry.

"I knew she wanted to be with someone else and not me," said Ron. "We just don't go together. Now you and her go together. Both of you were raised in the muggle world and would know what the other was talking about."

Harry felt his stomach drop. Did Ron know about him and Hermione? Or was he just saying they would make a good couple?

"You really think Hermione and I would make a good couple?" asked Harry.

"Yeah I do," said Ron. "You two get along better than her and me."

"What would you think if we did get together?" asked Harry. "I'm just saying."

"It would be great," Ron said, not looking at him.

_Ron still likes Hermione,_ Harry thought, _I don't think he knows about us. I hope that's how it stays too._

"Well we better get some sleep tomorrow's going to be a long day," Harry said taking off his glasses.

"You're right," Ron said turning off the candles and climbing into bed. "Night, Harry."

"Night, Ron," Harry said as they drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Harry woke to a still dark room. Something was humming next to his ear. He opened his eyes and looked to his right. There was a custard-colored hairball lying next to his head. Only after putting on his glasses did he notice it was a Puffskein. He scooped it up in his hands and looked at it.

Mrs. Weasley Apparated in the room with a loud crack, startling Ron, who was apparently still sleeping, and said, "You two better wake up before your late. What do you have there, Harry, dear?"

"Oh it's a Puffskein," Harry said. "I think Blythe left it here when she left."

"Better ask Charlie when he gets up later, dear," she said. "Get moving now, Ronald Weasley, before I send Bill in to get you."

"I'm up, I'm up," Ron said as he attempted to climb down the side of the bed without a ladder. "Um, where's the ladder?"

"At the end of the bed, dear," Mrs. Weasley said before Apparating out of the room.

"Hey watch it," Harry said as Ron attempted to touch his bed.

"Where's the bed?" Ron asked.

But before Harry could answer him, he fell off his bunk onto the floor. A loud thud filled the room rattling Fred and George awake.

"What was that?" asked George sitting up.

"What time is it?" asked Fred.

"That was Ron falling of the bed and it's too early in the morning to be getting up," Harry said as he helped Ron up.

They dressed in silence so not to disturb the twins who fell right back to sleep. As they left the room, Hermione came out of Ginny's room rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, Hermione," Harry said. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," Hermione said. "Did you guys hear that thud a few minutes ago? It sounded like it was coming from your room."

"Yeah Ron fell off the top bunk trying to get down," Harry said as they went down the stairs. "Don't think he broke anything."

"I don't think so either," Ron said rubbing his arm. "Never again will I wake up this early."

"Well you better hope you never have too," Mrs. Weasley said as they entered the kitchen. "Breakfast will be done soon. You're father better hurry up and get down here."

"Good morning all," said Mr. Weasley as he Apparated in the kitchen. "Smells wonderful, Molly."

"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said as everyone sat down around the table. "Eat up."

Mrs. Weasley put a plate in front of each person piled with sausage and eggs. Everyone ate in silence. Bill finally emerged from his room with Charlie close behind. As they sat down Mrs. Weasley placed a plate in front of them and they began to ear. Once everyone was done, Mrs. Weasley cleared the table.

"I'll see you all later," Mrs. Weasley said as the six of them marched from the room. "Charlie, why are you going?"

"I've got business at the Ministry today so I thought I'd go with them," Charlie said.

"Have fun now and you three behave for Bill afterwards," Mrs. Weasley said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they trudged through the darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As they entered the Ministry, people were hurrying from one place to another. Mr. Weasley said good-bye to them and disappeared into the mass of people before them. Bill and Charlie led them through the massive crowd into an empty elevator. The elevator quickly descended and finally came to stop. They quickly exited and walked down a long narrow hallway and finally walked through an open door.

"Mr. Pelerine," Bill said looking around the room.

"Yes," said a tall, thin gentleman in his early fifties. "How may I help you?"

"These three are here to take their Apparition test," said Bill pointing to Ron, Harry, and Hermione. "Our father made the appointments a couple days ago."

"Names please," asked Mr. Pelerine.

"Ron Weasley," said Ron.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione said.

"And you, sir?" said Mr. Pelerine, looking at Harry.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Ah, yes I see," Mr. Pelerine said. "I've been waiting for you to come in for quite a while now."

"I'll be back in a couple minutes," Charlie said leaving the room.

"Shall we get started?" asked Mr. Pelerine looking at them. "You first, Mr. Weasley." Ron stepped forward. "Please Apparate to these coordinates and remember to concentrate very hard. There will be a gentleman waiting for you."

Mr. Pelerine handed Ron a sheet of parchment that had a set coordinates written on it. Ron closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, he disappeared with a loud crack. Harry and Hermione looked at the empty spot where Ron had stood. Nothing was there.

"I hope he's okay," Hermione said gripping Harry's sleeve tightly.

"If he wasn't, there would be something still there, wouldn't there?" said Harry.

"Miss Granger, your next," Mr. Pelerine said holding out a piece of parchment.

"You'll be fine," Harry told her as she stepped forward.

Hermione took the piece of parchment, closed her eyes, and disappeared. Nothing was left where she stood. Harry stepped forward and waited for the piece of parchment that would tell him where to go.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Mr. Pelerine said with a wide smile. "I know you'll be able to do this just fine. Here you go."

Mr. Pelerine handed Harry a piece of parchment and stepped back.

"Good luck, Harry," Bill said.

Harry smiled at him and turned his attention to the piece of parchment. It said: Hogsmeade left of the door to the Three Broomsticks. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated very hard. The next thing he knew he felt himself flying through the air. When his feet touched something solid, he opened his eyes and saw that he was standing to the left of the door at the Three Broomsticks. There sitting at the bar was Ron, Hermione, and a wizard he did not know.

"Butterbeer, Harry," Ron said.

"Yeah, thanks," Harry said sitting down beside Hermione.

"So how was it?" asked Hermione, taking a drink.

"It was fun," said Harry. "I like that feeling of flying through the air."

"It was amazing, wasn't it," said Hermione with a smile. "But we have to go back in a little while."

"You mean Apparate back?" said Harry.

"Yep," Ron said. "That's why Mr. Palatine here is for."

"Hello, Harry," Mr. Palatine said with a smile. "How's your summer going?"

"Better than usual so far," said Harry taking a drink of his Butterbeer.

"That's good," said Mr. Palatine, looking at his watch. "You almost done there, Ron?"

"Yeah, I'm done," Ron said standing up. "I don't really care for the feeling of Aparating but I can tease Ginny with the fact that I can and she can't."

"Ron, you should be nicer to Ginny," Hermione said. "She's the only sister you have and if you piss her off, you're not going to be happy."

Ron just looked at Hermione as he took the piece of parchment from Mr. Palatine. He closed his eyes and disappeared. Harry quickly kissed Hermione's cheek as she stood up. She looked at Harry and smiled. As she took the piece of parchment, she winked at him and disappeared.

Harry smiled as he took the piece parchment from Mr. Palatine. He looked at the parchment, closed his eyes, and once again began to fly through the air. Once his feet touched the ground, he opened his eyes and saw that he was back in Mr. Pelerine's office. Everyone was sitting about the room watching him.

"Congratulation, Mr. Potter, you passed," Mr. Pelerine said handing Harry a piece of parchment. "Here is your license. I hope all of you have a nice day."

"Good bye, Mr. Pelerine," Bill said leading them back into the hall.

"Oh, by the way," Mr. Pelerine called after them. "You three are now allowed to use magic since your all seventeen. I almost forgot to inform you about that."

"Thank you, Mr. Pelerine," called Bill as they piled into an empty elevator.

Once they were out of the Ministry, Bill led them to the Leaky Cauldron and into Diagon Alley.

"What are we doing here?" asked Ron. "We don't have our school list yet."

"We're just hanging out," Bill said. "Look there's Charlie and Shannon. Hey guys."

"Hey, Bill," said Charlie. "Guys you remember Shannon."

"Yeah," said Ron.

"Shannon, this is Hermione Granger and Harry Potter," introduced Charlie. "They're Ron's friends."

"Hello," Harry and Hermione said together.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Shannon said with a wide smile.

Harry looked at Shannon intently. She wasn't the same person that he saw in the Weasley's kitchen when he arrived. This woman had light golden brown down to her chin and violet eyes. She was wearing a short denim skirt that stopped in the middle of her thighs, a light blue halter-top, a pair of knee high black leather boots, and a black robe.

"Do you like what she did to her look?" asked Charlie. "Personally I like the dark look but this is cute."

"I'll give you your dark look tonight," said Shannon. "Does anyone know where the candy store is? My sweet tooth is acting up."

"It's right over there," said Ron, pointing to a store behind Shannon and Charlie.

"Why don't you guys go with Shannon," suggested Bill. "I need to talk with Charlie about something."

"Okay," said Hermione as they made their way to the store.

As they entered the candy store, a small plump witch with curly white hair and a motherly smile greeted them.

"Good morning," she said, handing them each a cauldron. "If you need any help just let me know and I'll be right there."

"Okay," Shannon said with a smile. "I'm not familiar with your sweets."

"Everything's good," Ron said. "Just don't trust anything Fred and George give you."

"Yes, your brother Charlie warned me about that the other day when Fred offered me a piece of toffee," said Shannon, looking at what appeared to be metal bottle caps. "Bottle caps, I suppose."

"Yeah," said Harry, noticing her expression. "Do they look different than what you've seen?"

"Yeah," said Shannon picking up a small bag of bottle caps. "They look like candy bottle caps. Not the real thing."

"So how do American witches and wizards deal with muggles?" Harry asked picking up a large box of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Bean.

"We live in peaceful harmony with them," said Shannon. "Actually, every other house where I grew up is of a wizarding family. You see, it goes muggle house then a wizard house and so on."

"You actually live in the same neighborhood?" exclaimed Ron, who just picked up what looked like pink flying pigs in a jar. "Wicked."

"Yes," said Shannon also picking up a jar of pink flying pigs. "I'm guessing these are peppermint pigs."

"Yes," said Hermione looking quite taken back. "I, too, haven't had much time to try several wizard sweets. Some are very new to me."

"Well, at least I'm not alone," Shannon said grinning. "Enchanted worms in dirt. Blythe will like that."

"Did Blythe have her Puffskein when she went home?" asked Harry, remembering the humming hairball.

Shannon thought for a moment. "No, cause she was running around tossing it in the air when she went to bed, why?" she asked.

"Cause I found one this morning next to my head," said Harry.

"We had one and then we had two and then come to find out we only had one," said Shannon. "So that may be the elusive second Puffskein, but you can keep it."

Once they were done shopping, Shannon had bought a collection of assorted sweets. They slowly made their way down the street, stopping at almost every shop they came across. As they left the bookshop, a ringing sound filled the street. Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Bill looked at Shannon with curious looks.

"Sorry," apologized Shannon as she pulled out a black cell phone. "Hello. This is her."

Charlie dipped his hand into Shannon's purse and pulled out a red sucker. He quickly unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth. Shannon had felt him slip his hand into her purse and pull it out. She shook her head and pulled the sucker from his mouth.

"Stop it," teased Shannon. "No, not you. My friend here. He's picking on me today."

"What is she talking on?" asked Ron.

"It's called a cell phone," said Hermione.

"Two people can talk to each other by using one of these cell phones?" said Ron. "Wow."

Harry looked at Hermione and both shook their heads. "Ciao," Shannon said hanging up her cell phone. "Sorry about that guys."

"Who was it?" asked Ron.

"It was a friend back in America," Shannon said looking at Bill and Charlie. "She says that an unsuspecting wizarding family with twelve children received a package with six Erklings and a Knarl in it."

"Did anything happen to their children?" asked Bill.

"No," Shannon said. "Only three of the kids were in danger but the older ones were quick enough to recognize what they had. But the father ended up getting his hand injured from the Knarl. Deadly things."

"What's an Erkling and Knarl?" asked Hermione.

"An Erkling is an elfish creature from the Black Forest in Germany," said Bill. "They're three feet tall with pointed faces and a high pitched cackle that puts children entrances. They lead kids away and..."

Hermione gasped as she gripped Harry's shirt. "And what's a Knarl?" asked Harry.

"A Knarl looks like a hedgehog and you can't actually tell the difference between their appearances," Charlie said. "The only way to tell the difference is by how they act."

"If you put food before a hedgehog it'll accept and eat," said Shannon, "but with a Knarl, it'll think your trying to trap it and it'll destroy anything from plants to ornaments, even people."

"What are they doing about the Knarl and Erklings?" asked Ron.

"They're taking them back to where they belong after record the attacks," said Shannon. "Shall we move along then?"

"So, Shannon, why don't you tell us a little about yourself," suggested Hermione as she linked her arm with Harry's.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"All right," said Shannon looking at the young girl. "Well, I was born in Brooklyn, New York. I'm an only child. My mother's an American and my father's English. We moved to New York, New York when I was ten. Continued my schooling until I was seventeen, been working for the American Ministry of Magic since then. Any specific questions you have?"

"How many wizarding schools are there in America?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Four," Shannon said as they walked down the street. "One for each area."

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"Each school coincides with the different time zones in America," said Shannon. "One for Pacific, one for Mountain, one for Central, and one for East Coast. I was located on the East Coast so I went to that one."

"Did each school have a different name?" asked Harry.

"Pacific Wizarding School," said Shannon, "Mountain Range Wizarding School, Central Wizarding School, and Ocean View Wizarding School."

"I didn't know America had that many schools," said Hermione.

"Didn't it give you that information in one of your books?" asked Ron.

"No," Hermione said. "The only thing in my books about schools were European schools."

"Like Viktor's school," said Ron coldly.

"You leave Viktor out of this," hissed Hermione.

"Okay that's enough you two," said Bill. "Ron, be nice to Hermione."

"But," said Ron.

"No buts," said Bill.

"Who's Viktor?" asked Shannon.

"Viktor Krum is a professional Quidditch player that Hermione got to know during our fourth year," said Harry. "Ron's not to fond of him."

"Oh, I see what happened," Shannon said with a smile. "Shall we go back to the Burrow?"

"Yeah, mum wants us home for lunch," said Bill.

"Well it's already quarter after twelve," Shannon said looking at her watch. "Best to show up now and not at like three or four."

"I agree," said Charlie. "Oh, by the way, mum said you can transfigure the house."

"Really," said Shannon as they walked down the street. "Wicked. I'll have to do some planning and of course it'll have to be done at night so that no muggles see us."

"She sure does seem happy that your mum's letting her do this," Harry said to Ron as they drifted behind them.

"Yeah well, that's Charlie's fault," Ron said. "He said something about trying to find a way to make more room in the house so that we weren't so cramped. Then the idea of transfiguring our house popped into her head."

"Wouldn't it be nice to have more room though?" Hermione asked. "That way you don't have to share a room with Fred and George when your older brothers come to visit."

"I like the idea and all but it'll take some time to get use too," Ron said. "I kind of like my room the way it is. But I do want more space."

"This looks like a good spot," said Bill as they left Diagon Alley.

They looked around and saw that they were in the small courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. Each one of them quickly Disapparated and was back in the Burrow. To their surprise, Mrs. Weasley was not home.

"She left at noon to buy something for lunch," Ginny said as they entered the living room. "Welcome back, Shannon."

"Thank you, dear," said Shannon. "Wizards Chess. Very weird game."

"Do you know how to play?" asked Ginny as one piece advanced forward.

"Yes I do," said Shannon. "I learned how to play normal chess before I learned how to play this. Same thing but you don't have to move the pieces. They move themselves."

"Wanna play?" Ginny asked.

"No thank you," Shannon said. "I need to do some drawing. Want to help with that? You can tell me where you want everyone's rooms to be."

"Okay," said Ginny as they retreated to the kitchen table.

_Boom_. The house shook violently as the shock wave expanded. Hermione grabbed Harry as they looked around.

"What was that?" asked Shannon.

The two girls came hurrying back into the room. Ginny held onto Shannon's robe as the walls slowly stopped vibrating. Then another loud boom filled the house. The house shook violently once again. Harry covered Hermione with his robe as dirt fell from the ceiling. Shannon did the same to Ginny.

"Are Fred and George home?" asked Bill as the walls stopped moving.

"Yes," said Ginny.

"Let's go investigate," said Charlie. "I want all of you outside. Bill and Shannon will come with me."

"Okay," said Hermione as she and Ginny drug the boys outside.

They sat outside for about fifteen minutes listening to shouts and yells until all fell quiet. Finally, Shannon and Bill came marching outside. Bill was obviously angry about something, but they were shocked when he started arguing with Shannon.

"Why did you do that, Shan?" asked Bill stepping in front of her.

"This way they can't be of anymore danger," Shannon said. "If they can't speak they can't do magic and therefore they can't put us at anymore damage."

"But why did you take their voices with you?" Bill hissed.

"Don't worry, Bill, I'll give them back their voices in either a couple hours or a couple days," Shannon said. "I'll do it when they're sleeping of course."

"What happened?" asked Ron.

"Bill's mad because I took Fred and George's voices," said Shannon as she sat down on the ground. "Things will be a little quieter for a while."

"Mum's not going to be happy with them or you," said Ginny.

"Your mom popped in and gave me the idea," said Shannon. "She thinks it's a wonderful idea and wants me to teach her how to do the spell."

"There's a spell for taking away someone's voice," exclaimed Harry and Ron.

"Perfect for Malfoy," said Ron.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Men," Hermione, Ginny, and Shannon said together.

The three girls then broke into a fit of giggles. Charlie came outside and sat beside Shannon. She looked so tired. Mrs. Weasley came bustling outside with a worried look.

"Lunch will be in a couple minutes," she said looking at each other as her gaze settled on Shannon.

"Oh dear I left all my papers on your kitchen table," Shannon said as she stood up. "I'll clean that up right now."

Shannon seemed to have difficulties moving around in a skirt as she stood up. She seemed more accustomed to pants. It's like a fisherman being on land. He doesn't do to well, but when he's at sea he's just fine.

Once Shannon returned and Mrs. Weasley had disappeared back into the house, they broke into chatter. Shannon set out her blue prints for all to see. She had drawn a three-story house with a basement. She had four different boards and each had a different floor plan on it.

The first floor had a kitchen, living room, an extra room, and a washroom for laundry. On the second floor were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's bedroom, a study/library, and two more bedrooms. The third floor had four bedrooms. Each bedroom had it's own bathroom. Then there was the basement, which held nothing but old family things.

"Does anyone have any objections to this layout?" asked Shannon.

"Where's the ghoul going to live?" asked Ron. "There's no attic."

Ever since Harry could remember, there had always been a ghoul living in the Weasley's attic. But Ron was right. There was no attic.

"Simple," said Shannon pointing to floor plan. "He'll live in the basement. I've labeled each room. So are there any objections to these arrangements? Ginny, your room will be on the second floor. All of you guys will be located on the top floor."

"What about Percy?" asked Ginny.

"There's an extra bedroom on the second floor," pointed out Shannon. "So that if he does come home he'll have a room waiting for him. Oh, each room is self cleaning, so there will never be any dust or dirt on the floor ever."

"Mum's going to love that," said Bill.

"Your mother is going to die when she sees her new kitchen," smiled Shannon. "A fridge that is two times larger than the regular refrigerator, also a stove with six burners and an oven. In the kitchen there's a table that will seat all nine Weasley's plus three or four guests."

"Wow," they all said.

"You thought of everything," Ginny said looking each plan over. "Each bedroom has it's own bathroom."

"Yeah," Shannon said. "You even have a library and study. Which, when I'm done, will have every single book you guys have and ever will need for school, a copy for each person."

"Don't over do it now, Shan," said Charlie. "I don't need you wiped out for a week cause you did all of this."

"Don't worry, Charlie," said Shannon. "I won't be totally exhausted."

"Just don't over do it," Charlie said.

"Lunch is ready," Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen door.

"Are you going to give Fred and George their voices back soon?" Ginny asked as she helped pick up the house plans.

"I think I'll do that tonight," Shannon said as they started back to the house. "But don't tell them that."

Ginny giggled as they entered the house. Once everyone was seated, Mrs. Weasley passed out sandwiches and Butterbeer. She then sat down and everyone began to eat.

"So, Shannon," said Mrs. Weasley. "How are those plans coming along?"

"Oh, they're done, ma'am," said Shannon. "If you'd like, after we're done eating I can show you."

"That would be nice, dear," Mrs. Weasley said.

They ate in silence until Mrs. Weasley said, "Why so quiet, Fred? You and George haven't said anything for a while."

The twins looked at each other and then their mother. They narrowed their eyes as they turned their gazes to Shannon, who smiled sweetly at them and continued to drink her Butterbeer. Shannon petted the necklace around her neck. On the silver chain, were two small bottles filled with some maroon liquid. Each bottle had an initial printed on it. These two bottles had the initials F and G on them to represent Fred and George.

Once they were done eating, they moved to the living room where Shannon showed Mrs. Weasley her plans for the Burrow. Shannon explained to her what would be in each room. Mrs. Weasley's face lit up as Shannon told her more and more about her new home.

"What do you think, Mrs. Weasley?" asked Shannon once she had explained where the ghoul would be living.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The silence was unbearable. Harry wanted to say something but he found that his mouth would not work. Finally, Mrs. Weasley spoke.

"I love it, dear," Mrs. Weasley said with a wide smile. "Just warn me before you go making these changes."

"Yes, ma'am, of course," said Shannon. "How about we do it at ten tonight?"

"Yes, please do it before Arthur gets home," Mrs. Weasley said. "Well let's get packing. Now where did I put those boxes? We're going to need something to put all of our shrunken things into."

"I have bags we can use, mum," Bill said.

"Oh good," Mrs. Weasley said.

Bill Disapparated and was back within seconds. He handed each person a bag and they proceeded to their room.

"Shannon, I think Fred and George need their voices back to do this," said Ron.

"Oh fine," Shannon said removing the bottles from her necklace. "But no more booms or bangs. Just drink the liquid inside and you'll have your voices."

The twins did as Shannon instructed and soon they were shrinking everything in their room. It didn't take very long to shrink and gather everything in the house.

As they waited for the sun to go down, they sat outside talking and playing a game that Shannon had learned in America. This game was Truth or Dare. They sat in a large circle so that they could see each other. The circle went Shannon, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Harry, Hermione, and back to Shannon.

"This is how Truth or Dare goes," said Shannon. "I'll start by asking someone if they want a truth question or do they want a dare."

"So if you choose truth you have to answer the question truthfully?" said Ginny.

"Exactly and when a dare comes up, please be nice to that person," Shannon said. "No mean or embarrassing dares or any truth questions that make someone break a promise they made to someone. Shall we begin?"

"Sure," said Hermione.

"Okay we'll go to the left," said Shannon looking at Ginny. "Ginny, truth or dare?"

"Um...truth," Ginny said.

"How many boyfriends have you ever had while attending Hogwarts?" asked Shannon.

Ginny's cheeks turned slightly pink. "Three," she said.

"Now you ask Ron," said Shannon.

"Okay," Ginny said turning to her older brother. "Truth or dare, Ron?"

"Dare," decided Ron.

"Um...I dare you to not speak until ten tonight," said Ginny with a grin.

"Uh-oh," Hermione said. "How is Ron suppose to ask Fred?"

"He's going to have to write it down," said Bill as a sheet of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink appeared out of thin air. "Should we take Ron's voice away so that he can actually perform this dare?"

"Yes," Fred and George said.

"Okay, open your mouth, Ron," Shannon said taking out her want. "Vocal Extract."

Ron opened his mouth and a pale blue mist slowly wafted out. Shannon held out her hand and a small bottle appeared with the initial 'R' clearly marked on the front. The pale blue mist entered the bottle and became liquid once the cork stopper was firmly placed in the top. Then, Shannon placed the small bottle on her necklace and they continued.

It was now Ron's turn and he quickly wrote, "Truth or Dare?"

Fred thought for a moment and said, "Truth."

Quickly, Ron wrote, "Where did you and George get the money to start your joke shop during the summer of your six year."

"From a friend," Fred said.

"Does that count?" asked Ginny. "Or does he have to tell us who gave it to them?"

"That's the truth right, Fred," said Shannon.

"Yes," Fred said.

"Then it's valid," said Shannon. "Ron didn't ask who gave them the money. He just asked where did they get the money. If you want to know something specific, be specific in your question. Ok, Fred, your turn."

"Truth or dare?" Fred asked George.

"Dare," said George, his eyes bright.

Fred thought for a moment and then said, "I dare you to go two days without your voice."

George's eyes narrowed as he said, "Fine."

"Vocal Extract," said Shannon pointing her wand at him.

As George opened his mouth, a dark maroon mist wafted out and went into a small bottle sitting in the palm of Shannon's hand. Once the cork was placed in the top, the mist turned into a dark maroon liquid. Quickly, Shannon placed the small bottle on her necklace.

"Your turn, George," smiled Shannon.

George took the parchment, quill, and ink from Ron and wrote, "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Bill said.

George gave him a sly smile as he quickly wrote, "I dare you to go without your voice for two days."

"I should have known," Bill said turning to Shannon.

"Vocal Extract," Shannon said pointing her wand at him.

Bill opened his mouth and a dark blue mist wafted out. Once inside the bottle, Shannon corked it and placed it on her necklace. Bill then took the writing supplies and turned to Charlie.

"Truth," Charlie said before Bill could write something down. "Come on, hurry up."

"What gave you that scare on your left shoulder?" wrote Bill. "You know the two holed one."

"A gardening tool," said Charlie.

"That scar," said Shannon putting her hand to her lips.

"Truth or dare, Harry?" asked Charlie.

"Er...truth," said Harry.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" asked Charlie.

"Yes," Harry said.

Everyone looked at Harry with astonished looks. Harry could feel his cheeks reddening as they watched him.

"Okay, Harry, it's your turn," said Shannon breaking the silence.

"Truth or Dare," said Harry turning to Hermione.

"Truth," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes.

"Um...were you jealous of Cho for receiving a lot of my attention while she and I were together?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione said turning to Shannon. "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Shannon said with a sly smile.

"I dare you to take away Fred, Harry, and Charlie's voices until tomorrow night," said Hermione.

"Okay," Shannon said looking at each of them. "Fred first."

Fred glared at Hermione and reluctantly opened his mouth.

"Vocal Extract," Shannon said.

A light maroon colored mist wafted out of his mouth and into the small bottle with a large 'F' clearly printed on the front. Once it was corked, Shannon set it in her lap and turned to Charlie.

"I'll get you for this, Hermione," Charlie said opening his mouth.

A light blue mist wafted out of his mouth and into a small bottle labeled with a large black 'C' on the front. Once it was corked, it, too, joined Fred's voice.

"Your turn, Harry," Shannon said opening her hand to reveal a small bottle with a large 'H' printed on it.

Harry opened his mouth and a green mist wafted out. Once the mist was in the bottle, it changed into an emerald green liquid. Shannon corked it and placed it with the others.

"Okay, Ginny," said Shannon as she stringed the bottles onto her necklace. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," said Ginny.

Shannon looked back at the house. "I dare you to go inside and grab each person a Butterbeer," she said.

Ginny gave her a mischievous look as she stood up and hurried into the house. They waited only a couple minutes before the youngest Weasley came running outside back outside with an arm full of bottles. As she sat down, Shannon and Ron began to disperse the drinks.

"Did you get caught?" asked Shannon.

"Almost," Ginny said. "Mum was in the kitchen cooking cookies when she needed to do something in the other room. I had just grabbed one last Butterbeer when she came back, but I heard her coming and was able to close the door and be out of their before she noticed me."

"You're just as bad as your brothers," accused Shannon with a smile. "Good job."

"Thank you," Ginny said beaming with pride.

"Shall we do something else before all of us are voice less?" asked Hermione.

The guys all looked at her and frowned. "I think your right," said Ginny. "Let's go inside and help mum."

"That's a very good idea," said Shannon. "See you guys later."

Hermione, Ginny, and Shannon stood up and strolled off back to the house leaving the guys to their own pleasures. Bill, who still had the parchment, quickly wrote down an idea he had.

"We need to get those bottles away from her," Bill wrote.

"But how do we get them away from her," Fred wrote.

As the hours passed the guys devised a plan to retrieve their voices back. Mrs. Weasley found this to be a very wonderful change of pace. The peace and quiet that filled the house seemed to change her into a completely different person. Her face looked brighter and she seemed to look several years younger.

As the ladies helped Mrs. Weasley bake, the guys gathered in Ron's room and talked- or more like wrote- about their plan. It was almost dinnertime, and the girls had retreated to Ginny's room to talk.

"We'll wait until they head down for dinner," wrote Bill. "We'll use our wands to levitate the necklace from around Shannon's neck."

"I thought we were going to use the sleeping spell," Ron wrote. "That way we don't have to worry about Shannon using anything against us."

"Good point," wrote Bill.

"We can't cast any spells since we don't have our voices," wrote Fred.

Ron and Harry looked at each other and smiled. "We know how to get it," wrote Harry as he turned towards where his trunk use to sit. "We shrunk my trunk."

"Well let's think of something quick," wrote George. "Charlie, you share the bed with her at night."

Charlie looked at his younger brother with a puzzled look. Once he realized what George was talking about, he shook his head vigorously. They all looked at him.

"That's not an option," Charlie wrote. "She'd give me boils and then leave if I tried it. Then we wouldn't get our voices back for a long time."

Then they heard Mrs. Weasley's voice call up to them that dinner was ready. They all marched out of the room with sorrowful looks on their faces. As they reached the stairs, the door to Ginny's room opened and the girls marched out. Each had changed their outfits and looked very different. They gave them looks of amazement.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I believe they like what they see," Shannon said.

She had replaced her blue halter-top and denim skirt with a liquid like silver tube top and a loose black skirt that touched the middle of her thighs. Her hair was still down to her chin and the light brown color. But her eyes were a sickly blue color instead of the vibrant violet color.

"I do believe your right," said Ginny.

Ginny had discarded her usual outfit and replaced it with a spaghetti tank top in a dark red color, a loose black skirt that touched the middle of her thighs, and a pair of knee high black boots. She wore her long red hair in a high bun with a small section of hair curling down both sides of her face.

"Shall we go before your mum comes looking for us?" asked Hermione.

Hermione, also, had discarded her usual outfit and replaced it with something nicer. She was now wearing a spaghetti tank top in emerald green that appeared to be made of a liquid fabric, a loose flowing black skirt that gracefully touched the middle of her thighs, and a pair of knee high black boots. Her long brown hair flowed down her back and over her shoulders in a cascade of ringlets.

The guys followed closely behind them and into the kitchen. If it hadn't been for the fact that Shannon, Ginny, and Hermione were all wearing their robes, Mrs. Weasley would have demanded them to go change, but instead she just smiled at them as they all sat down on the floor for dinner.

"You girls look lovely today," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," said Shannon.

"So what are you guys dressed up for?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she sat down.

"We're just going to have some fun tonight," said Ginny.

"Oh really," said Mrs. Weasley. "Like what?"

"Just hang out front and talk," said Hermione. "Torment the boys."

"That will be fine," said Mrs. Weasley. "I do hope you will hurry and change the house as soon as it's dark."

"Of course," Shannon said with a smile.

By the time everyone was finished eating, the sun had been gone from the sky for two hours. Tiny white spots filled the sky and a bright half moon was hanging in the velvety sky. Once everyone was outside, seated on the grass, and had their voices back, Shannon began to transfigure the Weasley's house into their new home. Shannon walked up to the house, placed her hand on the wall, and tapped the house with her hand. No one heard what she said but after about five minutes the house blurred and was replaced by a beautiful home that looked brand new.

"It looks wonderful, Shannon," said Ginny as they all jumped up to congratulate her.

"Thanks," said Shannon quietly.

She looked even more tired than earlier.

"Good job," Charlie said wrapping his arm around her waist. "Tired?"

"Yeah," Shannon said leaning against him. "That took a lot more out of me then I thought it would."

"We better get everything unpacked before it gets too late," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Allow me, mum," said Bill with a flick of his wrist. "There. No need to work to much today."

Just then they heard a loud crack come from behind the house. "What in the name of Merlin?!" yelled a loud masculine voice.

"Your father's home," yelped Mrs. Weasley hurrying into the house.

"We better get to bed," said Charlie, supporting his exhausted lover. "Shannon and I both have things to do tomorrow."

They all trooped into the new house, up the now stable stairs, and into their rooms. Harry and Ron found their trunks safe and sound beside the door. The two young men quickly changed into their pajamas and climbed into bed. Soon they were fast asleep.

It was nearly one o'clock when Harry's peaceful night was interupted. His dream had started off with him and Hermione kissing alone in a quiet classroom. Suddenly, they were outside in the pouring rain.

"Come on, Hermione," said Harry grabbing her hand. "We have to find shelter before we get soaked."

"I told you that going outside was a bad idea," Hermione complained.

Finally they reached the school and dove into the entranceway. When Harry's hands hit the ground, he found himself in bed with Hermione. She was wearing one of his shirts, as he lay there topless. He sat up and looked around. They were in his bedroom at the Dursley's house.

Harry looked over at his sleeping lover and saw that she was covered in blood. He grabbed Hermione and held her in his arms as he wept. A flash of lightning revealed Voldemort standing at his door with his want drawn. Voldemort hissed something and a bright flash of green light filled the room.

A sudden rumble of thunder woke Harry with a start, and to his relief he was in Ron's room. While the occupants of the Weasley house slept, a thunder and lightning storm had moved over them and was pounding the new house with icy sheets of rain. Harry listened to see if Ron was awake before he climbed out of bed. He slipped on his robe and carefully left his friend's room.

As he made his way down the stairs, he heard a door open and close. Harry waited a moment around the corner to see who it was and to his surprise it was Hermione. She was quickly and quietly making her way up the stairs towards him, so he stepped out into her sight and hurried down to greet her.

"Harry," she said when she saw him coming towards her.

When they reached each other, Hermione through her arms around his neck and held onto him tightly. Harry gently wrapped his arms around her. Suddenly, he felt something wet, touch his neck. He looked down and saw that his young love was quietly crying in his arms.

Harry pulled away from her and asked, "Are you okay, Hermione?"

"I had a dreadful dream," she said still crying. "You died in a duel with V-V-Voldemort and no one would let me or Ron help you. Not even Dumbledore would help you."

"It was only a dream," Harry said reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"What were you doing up?" Hermione asked whipping away some tears.

"I was just going to the kitchen for some water," lied Harry.

There was no way he could tell her that he had a dream where she died. Or that Voldemort was there. Hermione gently slipped her hand into his and they both went down into the kitchen for some water. As they walked up the stairs, they noticed Shannon standing at the very top leaning on the banister watching them. She smiled at the two young lovers, tipped her head, and went back into the room she shared with Charlie.

"Do you think she knows?" asked Harry.

"Of course she knows," said Hermione. "But she won't tell."

"I hope not," Harry said, kissing Hermione. "Good night."

Hermione giggled and said, "Good night, Harry."

Once the door was closed, Harry climbed the stairs and quietly slipped back into Ron's room. Ron was still deep asleep as he slipped off his robe and climbed into bed. Harry didn't want to fall back asleep. He feared what other dark and poisonous nightmares might flood his mind if he allowed sleep to take him. Soon, sleep over powered him and he fell into the grips of his subconscious to do with him as it pleased.

Harry was thankful the next morning when he woke to the humming noise of his pet Puffskein. The rest of his night had gone without incident and this pleased him. Ron, too, had just woken up and they climbed out of bed without a word to each other. Once they were dressed, the two young men climbed down the stairs for breakfast.

As they entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was busy making breakfast. The kitchen was a dark red color with black granite counter tops, dark cherry wood cupboards, and hard wood floors. Today for breakfast, Mrs. Weasley was making porridge and toast. She turned around and spotted the two of them standing there in the doorway.

"Good morning, dears," Mrs. Weasley said with a smile. "Anyone else up yet?"

"No, mum," said Ron as he and Harry carefully walked into the kitchen.

"Stop that, Ron," said Mrs. Weasley pouring two bowls of porridge. "The kitchen's not going to eat you. Now sit down and have some breakfast."

Once Harry and Ron were seated at the long cherry wood table, the sound of feet on the stairs found its way to their ears. Soon Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione, and Bill were seated at the table.

"Where's Charlie and Shannon?" asked Mrs. Weasley passing out more porridge.

"They went to America about an hour ago," said Bill. "Charlie will be home a couple days before these four have to go back to school."

"And Shannon?" asked Ginny. "Is she going to come back too?"

"No," said Bill. "She's got work with the Ministry in America that needs her attention."

"Ah and I didn't even get to say good-bye," said Ginny.

"She didn't want any tears or anything," said Bill. "When did this storm blow in?"

"Sometime last night," said Mrs. Weasley sitting down to a bowl of porridge. "Very strange storm. It just appeared out of nowhere."

They all looked out the wide windows at the dark almost black sky. The icy sheets of rain were still pounding on the house and the land around them.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

As the day went on, everyone began to move more slowly and tempers began to flare. Suddenly, all of Ginny's dolls came to life and went after Ron and Harry who were busy playing wizards chess.

"Harry, look out," exclaimed Hermione as a teddy bear lunged at him.

"Bloody hell," said Harry and Ron as they jumped to their feet.

"Fred," yelled Ginny as a large rag doll tackled her. "Ah, help."

Hermione ran to Ginny's aid and pulled off the large doll. Ron was busy kicking the smaller dolls as Harry pulled the two young ladies behind him.

"We have to get to safety," said Harry pulling out his wand. "Get upstairs to Ron's room."

"Okay," said Hermione grabbing Ginny by the arm. "Let's go."

Slowly, Harry and Ron repelled the advancing dolls as they made their ways up the stairs. As they stepped into the room a large teddy bear, almost the same height as Ginny, came running up the stairs with several dolls right behind it. As the teddy bear dove for them, Harry hit it with a stunning spell.

"Stupefy," yelled Harry.

From the tip of his wand, shot a bolt of red light that was immediately absorbed into the bear. The doll fell to the ground as the other dolls watched. When the teddy bear did not get back on its feet, the other dolls grew enraged and began to charge at them. Ron and Hermione grabbed Harry and pulled him in as Ginny slammed the door on the dolls. A loud banging noise suddenly came from the other side of the door as the dolls hit the door at once.

"I can't believe Fred and George did that," said Ginny.

"Mum's going to have their heads when she gets home," Ron said sitting on the bottom bunk of his bed. "They couldn't have been that bored. Could they?"

"They must have been," said Harry sitting under the window.

A loud crack filled the room and suddenly Fred and George were in the room. Both of their faces were pale and they looked crazed.

"Why did you two do that?" asked Ginny. "I had them where I wanted them."

"We didn't do it," said George sitting on Harry's trunk.

"We were busy working on orders," Fred said holding his arm.

"You okay, Fred?" asked Harry.

"Yeah just a scrape," said Fred. "We only used our magic to make more parchment and ink appear. We swear."

"Then who made the dolls attack us," said Hermione sitting beside Harry.

"Dunno," said George. "Maybe mum did it."

"I don't know," said Ron. "Would she ever do something like that though?"

"You never know," said Fred sitting on Harry's trunk beside his brother.

"Where is mum, anyway?" asked Ginny sitting beside Harry.

"She said she was going to a friend's house," said Hermione leaning against Harry. "That was about fifteen minutes before the dolls attacked."

"Well we better make the most of tonight," said Harry looking at his watch. "Who knows how long those things will stay like this."

A loud bang came from the hall. Then a low, gentle voice came from the other side of the door. "Are you guys okay in there?" said the voice.

"Who's there?" asked Fred as he and George jumped to their feet.

"It's Remus Lupin," said the voice. "Are you lot okay?"

"Yeah," said Ron.

"Ginny, you really should keep your dolls locked up," said Lupin. "Can I come in."

"Yeah," said George opening the door.

There stood Remus Lupin. Their former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher during Ron, Harry, and Hermione's third year at Hogwarts. He didn't look as haggard as the time they saw him during the summer before their fifth year at the wizarding school.

Remus appeared to have put on several pounds since that time and looked leaner. His eyes were no longer slightly sunken into his skull. The slightly grayish tinge his skin use to have, was replaced with a healthy tan color. It appeared that he had received at least enough money to purchase brand new cloths.

Beside Lupin was a young lady of about twenty dressed from head to toe in dark green dragon hide and black leather. Her waist long hair was raven black and the top layer and sides were French braided into tinny braids, numbering about twenty, and pulled into a ponytail that sat in the middle of the back of her head. Her eyes looked like those that would belong to a wolf. They were a silvery blue with black slits that bored into your very being. Her ears were pierced from top to bottom with silver studs centered with black stones. A black satin choker with a single pearl drop, hanging from the center, adorned her neck. Around her waist was a loose fitting black leather belt that hung to one side and carried her wand, a synched pouch full of money and a dagger in a black sheath.

"Who's your friend, Professor?" asked Harry as he, Hermione, and Ginny stood up.

"Oh this is Ivy Darconia," Lupin said. "Ivy, this is Fred and George."

"Hello," said the Weasley twins.

"Ron and Ginny," continued Lupin.

"Hi," said Ron.

"Hello," Ginny said.

"They're all Weasleys," Lupin pointed out. "And these two are Hermione Granger and -"

"Harry Potter," Ivy said locking her eyes on him. "The boy who nearly destroyed Voldemort. It is a pleasure to meet you. Your name is quite known in America."

"Ah, thanks," Harry said.

Ivy watched him for a moment before looking at the dolls that littered the floor.

"Terrible mess," she said, and with a wave of her wand the dolls disappeared. "There."

"Are you related to Shannon?" asked George.

"Yes, she's my twin sister," Ivy said. "She's dating your older brother Charlie."

"Yeah, but Shannon never told us that she had a twin sister," said Fred.

"That's because we've never been close until a few weeks ago," said Ivy. "So this is the house she was talking about."

"Yeah," said Ginny.

"Ivy," said a masculine voice from behind them.

Everyone looked at the top of the stairs and saw Bill standing there. "Bill," Ivy said calmly, as she walked over to him. "Told you I'd see you soon."

"Yes you did," said Bill, kissing her cheek. "So you lot were attacked by dolls?"

"That's what it appeared to be when we arrived," said Lupin. "Ivy cleaned everything up."

"Ivy doesn't like a mess," said Bill. "You and those wolf eyes. Those things give me the creeps."

Ivy gave Bill a sly smile and eyes changed back to normal dark blue human eyes. "There you go," she said. "I only do that for you, you know."

"I know," Bill said. "So how did this start?"

"We though it was Fred and George but it wasn't," said Ginny.

"We were busy with our order sheets," said Fred.

"Then suddenly we were attacked by a large teddy bear," said George.

Without warning, Ivy suddenly transformed into a pure black wolf with a green tint to her fur. Her eyes were once again the silvery blue color. She spun around and hurried down the stairs. Before anyone could question her motives, Lupin and Bill were right behind her. With a quick look at each other, the gang followed suit.

Ivy led them outside and into the back yard. Her nose was in the air and the fur on the back of her neck was on end. She knew someone or something was there. Lupin, too, smelled it but he could not find it.

"Stay back," said Lupin. "Something every dangerous is out here and I don't want any of you to get hurt."

As Ivy took a step forward, a streak of blue light shot out from the bushes. With a single leap to the side, Ivy was able to avoid it. A large snake slowly emerged from the bushes. It flashed its fangs as Lupin and Bill moved back to the group.

The snake noticed them and proceeded to slither closer to them. Ivy stepped into its way, angering it. It raised up and let out a deep hiss before it lunged at her. In her wolf form, Ivy was able to avoid being bit as she flew over the serpent. With one quick motion, she bit the snake's neck, killing it instantly.

Once she was back in her normal form, she pulled out her wand and flicked it at the large serpent's body. The creature glowed for a moment before changing into a hooded figure that lay there dead on the grass.

"Damn Death Eaters," cursed Ivy, kicking it over. "I wish they would all just die."

She, then, marched into the dark forest. "Do you think it's safe for her to go in there alone?" asked Ron. "What if they're more Death Eaters?"

"Ivy can take care of herself," said Lupin. "She'll be back in about an hour or so. Once she's cooled down."

"She's very different from Shannon," said Ginny.

"You don't know Shannon then," said Lupin. "Her and Ivy are very mysterious people. Now let's get inside. We don't want to be out here when Ivy's temper reaches it's limit."

Lupin and Bill shuffled everyone inside. As Bill was closing the door, the woods behind the house lit up in a soft green color. "Something made her blow," Bill said. "She might be back sooner than we thought."

"You lot better get up to bed," said Lupin. "I reckon your school lists will be here sometime tomorrow and that means shopping at Diagon Alley."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny proceeded upstairs as the twins stayed in the kitchen to talk with Lupin. As the four of them reached the top of the first flight of stairs, Ginny took Harry's hand before he could go up the second flight to the room he shared with Ron.

"Can I talk to you for a second, Harry?" asked Ginny.

"Sure," said Harry. "Go on up, Ron. I'll be there in a moment."

"Alright mate," Ron said as he disappeared up the stairs.

"What is it, Ginny?" asked Harry as he closed the door to her room.

"Can I ask you a favor?" asked Ginny.

"Sure," said Harry quickly looking at Hermione. "What is it?"

Ginny, too, quickly glanced at Hermione who was busy pulling out her pajamas. "There's this guy who won't leave me alone," she said quietly. "He keeps pestering me to go out with him, even though I told him I have a boyfriend. He says that the only way he'll leave me alone is if he meets my boyfriend."

"What's the problem then?" asked Harry.

"Well I don't really have a boyfriend," confessed Ginny. "I lied to him to get him to leave me alone and I was wondering if you would pretend to be my boyfriend."

"Um...I don't know, Ginny," Harry said. "Did you tell him you were going out with me?"

Ginny closed her eyes and Harry quickly looked at Hermione who was now looking at them with wide eyes. Hermione nodded and pointed upstairs.

"Yes," Ginny confessed.

"You know what, Ginny," said Harry. "Can I think this over?"

Ginny opened her eyes and looked at him with wide eyes. "I guess," she said sadly.

"I'll give you my answer before I go to bed tonight, I promise," said Harry giving her a reassuring smile.

The young Weasley girl's face lit up with joy. She gave Harry a quick hug and said, "Okay."

"I'll see you tonight," Harry said Apparating from Ginny's room.

_Crack_. Harry suddenly appeared in Ron's room. Ron was just slipping on his shirt when he turned around and ran into Harry.

"Watch it, Harry," said Ron. "I heard a crack but I thought it was Fred and George."

"Sorry," said Harry as he sat on the bottom bunk.

There was another loud crack and Hermione had suddenly appeared in Ron's bedroom. She looked at Harry and then at Ron who was busy looking for something in his trunk. Quickly, she motioned for Harry to go into the hall.

"Harry, I need to talk with you," said Hermione.

"Okay," said Harry. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," said Ron not looking away from what he was doing.

Harry and Hermione quickly stepped into the hallway and closed the door. "What's wrong with him?" asked Hermione.

"Don't know," Harry said as they moved away from Ron's door. "Did you hear what Ginny asked me?"

"No, but she sounded upset," said Hermione. "What did it have to do with you?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Some guy has been trying to get her to go out with him and she ended up telling him that she was going out with me," said Harry quietly. "What am I going to do?"

"Tell her yes," said Hermione.

"But what about us?" asked Harry.

"We're keeping it a secret anyway," Hermione said taking one of Harry's hands into hers. "If Ron starts to catch on to us, this might throw him off."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "You won't mind if I have to kiss Ginny or hold hands with her, will you?"

"No," said Hermione with a smile. "We can always sneak away and kiss in an empty class room or something."

Harry had to smile at his brainy lover. He really did love her a lot. Trust was another thing he had for her. Her judgement was better than his most of the time.

"I should get back before Ginny comes looking for me," Hermione said as she looked down the stairs. "I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we can sneak off and be alone with no one around."

"Yeah before we go to Diagon Alley," said Harry with a smile.

As his lover turned to leave, Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. Hermione was surprised by this action. She looked up at him and saw an expression she had never seen on his face before.

Harry was a mysterious young man that she had been trying to figure out for nearly seven years now. She knew he had lost both parents when he was only a year old and was sent to live with the Dursleys. He had survived a deadly curse that scarred him for live. He'd also been through more than any witch or wizard while at Hogwarts.

"Are you okay?" asked Hermione.

"I'm just really thankful to have you," said Harry quietly. "Someone I can share things with."

Then, he leaned down and gently, but passionately, kissed the young woman before him. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Hermione slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to return the passionate kiss.

As they parted, Hermione rested her head on Harry's chest and sighed. "This feels so good," she said with a smile. "But we have to be careful."

"We don't want to hurt Ron," Harry said, kissing the top of her head. "We better get back before people come looking for us."

"We'll see each other tomorrow," Hermione said as she stepped back from Harry. "Good night."

"Good night," Harry said. "I'll be down there in a couple minutes. Once Ron's asleep."

"Okay," Hermione said as she Apparated.

Harry smiled to himself as he went back into Ron's room. Ron was sitting on the bottom bunk playing with Harry's Puffskein. He didn't look pleased either. As Harry slipped into his pajamas, Ron asked him a question.

"What's up with you, Harry?" Ron asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"You and Hermione keep sneaking off," said Ron. "Are you going out or something?"

"No, we're just talking," Harry said.

_Did Ron know that he and Hermione were together_, thought Harry. _Or was he just guessing? He can't know. Unless he used the extendo ears._

"Oh," Ron said happily as he stood up. "Good."

"Why?" asked Harry curiously.

"No reason, just wondering," said Ron as he climbed into his bed. "Good night."

"Night," Harry said as he climbed into his bed.

_I'll wait an hour before I go see Ginny,_ Harry thought. _I don't want Ron to get suspicious._

The hour seemed to pass by so slowly, but Harry periodically checked his watch. It was five minutes to ten when Harry decided to leave. He quietly climbed out of bed and opened the door. As he sneaked down the staircase, he carefully listened for any sound that would mean someone was out of bed and might catch him.

"Hurry up, Harry," said Hermione at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hermione, what are you doing up?" asked Harry hurrying down the remaining five steps. "You should be in bed."

"I kept thinking I head you popping in and out of the room," Hermione said. "Ginny's asleep."

"Okay," Harry said as she opened the door.

The two young lovers slowly entered Ginny's bedroom. Harry carefully closed the door as Hermione climbed into bed. He gently kissed her good night as he gathered his will to wake up the youngest Weasley child. Carefully, Harry knelt beside the young girl's bed, so not to startle her.

"Ginny," Harry said quietly, shaking the small girl. "Ginny, wake up."

"Hm," said Ginny as she opened her eyes. "Harry, you came."

"Shhh, Hermione's sleeping," Harry told her. "I thought about what you said."

"And? Will you?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Yes," said Harry with a smile.

Ginny leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Oh thank you, Harry," she said. "Thank you."

"I better get back before Ron wakes up," Harry said pulling her away from her.

Before he stood up, Harry leaned forward and gently kissed Ginny's forehead.

"Good night," Ginny said as she curled up to go back to sleep.

"Good night, Ginny," said Harry as he left the room.

Once back in bed, Harry settled down for a good night's rest. Moments after the young man fell asleep; dreams began to bombard his mind.

Harry opened his eyes and there he was standing outside the house he had lived in for only one year before being sent to his only relatives. The sky was bright blue and the grass was a brilliant green. He slowly entered the house and there sitting in the living room were his parents: James and Lily. James was busy reading the paper while his wife, Lily, wrote a letter.

"Harry, dear, how was your day?" asked Lily looking up from her letter.

"It was fine," Harry said with a smile.

His mother's bright green eyes glittered with happiness as she looked upon her son. The sound of paper rustling to his right caught his attention.

"So how's Sirius doing?" James asked looking up from the latest edition of the _Daily Prophet_.

"He's doing fine," said Harry when a knock came from the door. "I'll get it."

"Thank you, dear," Lily said as she returned to her letter.

Harry opened the door and there stood his godfather, Sirius Black. His skin was a healthy golden color, his eyes were alight with joy, his hair was clean and neatly kept, and he was healthy instead of deathly skinny. Sirius wore a pair of black pants, a black long sleeved shirt, black shoes, and a black cloak.

"Sirius," Harry said with a smile.

"Hey, Harry," said Sirius as she entered the house.

"Who is it, Harry?" his father's voice called.

"Padfoot," said Sirius. "Prongs."

"Where's Moony?" James asked as Harry and Sirius entered the living room.

"He's on his way," Sirius said. "Hello, Lily."

"Good afternoon, Sirius," Lily said as she folded her letter. "Are any of the owls back yet?"

"I believe Hedwig is," said James looking at Harry. "Run up stairs and see if she's back, would you, Harry?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said running up stairs.

Harry had never been in this house before but he knew exactly where his room way. As he entered his bedroom, Harry saw his walls covered with Quidditch posters, his broom siting against the wall by his door, and Hedwig sitting in her cage beside the open window. He smiled as she flew over to him.

"This feels so real," said Harry. "But I know it's only a dream. I wish it were real though."

"Harry," called Lily from the bottom of the stairs. "Is Hedwig back?"

Harry hurry out of his room and to the stairs. "Yes, mother," he said as he went down to her. "Here you go."

"Thank you, Harry," Lily said as she took Hedwig outside. "Take this to Molly Weasley please, Hedwig."

Hedwig took the letter and flew off into the horizon. As she came back into the house, a loud snapping noise came from the fireplace in the living room.

"Hello, is anyone home?" came a familiar voice. "Hello?"

"It's Arthur," said Lily, hurrying into the living room. "Hello, Arthur."

"Ah, hello, Lily," Mr. Weasley said as the others followed. "I see everyone is home."

There, floating in the center of green flames, was Mr. Weasley's head.

"Yes, it's a special day," said James patting Harry on the back.

"Molly got your letter," Mr. Weasley said.

"Good," Lily said with a smile.

"Just wanted to give you the news," Mr. Weasley said with a wink.

"See you soon," Lily whispered with a smile.

"Bye," Mr. Weasley said as his head disappeared with a snap.

"Knock, knock," said a voice from the door. "Is anyone home?"

"Moony," Sirius said with a bark type laugh.

"Hello, Sirius," Lupin said. "Everyone."

"Hey, Remus," James said.

"Why don't you guys take Harry to Diagon Alley?" suggested Lily with a sly smile.

"Sure," said Sirius with a big smile. "Come on, Harry. We're going to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Don't you dare, Sirius Black," said Lily. "I'll have your skin if I even smell the slightest bit of alcohol on him."

"Yes, Lily," Sirius said with a smile. "What was I thinking?"

"You were thinking of rattling my cage," Lily said. "Now get."

"Come on, guys," James said leading the small group of guys from the house. "We'll be back in a couple hours, Lily."

"See you later," said Lily as they all Apparated from sight.

Suddenly, Harry was standing outside his home once again. Beside him were his father, Sirius, and Lupin, each with bags. James opened the door and entered the house with the others right behind him. Inside, the house was pitch black and there was no sign of Lily.

"Where's mum?" asked Harry.

A sudden noise behind the couch caught Harry's attention.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

(The Unlucky Chapter)

Sorry this chapter is so short

"Happy Birthday," yelled several voices as the lights in the house suddenly came on.

"Happy birthday, son," James said patting Harry on the back.

"Happy birthday, mate," said Ron coming up to him.

"Did we surprise you, Harry?" asked Hermione giving Harry a kiss on the cheek.

Hermione was dressed in a pair of tight dark blue jeans, a ruby red t-shirt, and black tennis shoes. Her long golden brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.

"Yes," Harry said with a smile.

Hermione slipped her hand into his and leaned against his shoulder. "Ah, come on, Hermione," whined Ron. "Knock it off."

Ron was dressed in a pair of loose blue jeans, a blue sweater, and blue tennis shoes.

"You had your chance, Ronald Weasley," said Hermione. "Now I'm with Harry. Get use to it."

"Someone's at the front door," said Lily as she dashed into the kitchen. "Would someone please get it."

"I've got it," Sirius said hurrying out of the room. "It's Peter."

"What's he doing here?" asked Lupin looking at James.

"I don't know," James said. "Let's go take a look. Harry, why don't you take Ron and Hermione up to your room."

"Yes, sir," Harry said turning to his friends. "Let's go."

"Okay," said Hermione as Harry led the way.

As they entered the bedroom, a blood-curdling scream ran through the house. They spun around, as the door slammed shut, sending icy chills down their spins. Harry grabbed the doorknob and tried to pull open the door. Once that didn't work he pulled out his wand.

"Alohomora," said Harry pointing his wand at the lock.

Ron grabbed the doorknob and turned it. "It won't budge, mate," he said. "We're locked in here."

"Someone must have put a room-sealing spell on your bedroom," Hermione said looking around the room. "Let's go out the window."

Harry hurried over to the window and threw it open. "Come on, let's go," he said.

"You go first, Harry," Ron said.

"Okay," Harry said climbing out the window onto the roof. "Your turn, Hermione."

"Hurry, someone's coming," Ron said as the sound of footsteps got louder.

Once Hermione was outside, Ron practically jumped out the window. As Harry touched the ground, an angry yell came from his room. They quickly made their way to the road that went up to the house.

"There they are," came a rough voice from behind them.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all spun around and there, running towards them, were about twenty Death Eaters. Each draped in their black robes with their wands raised, ready to attack.

"Run," Harry said as he turned to run.

There, standing before them, were ten more Death Eaters and a tall, thin man draped in an emerald cloak. At his feet was a large green and black python with glowing ruby eyes. The man in the emerald cloak slowly walked over to them. His eyes were covered but Harry knew who he was.

"Voldemort," said Harry.

"Harry Potter, it's been a while," said Voldemort with a sneer. "My, what a pretty young woman you have here."

As Voldemort stepped closer to Hermione, Harry grabbed her and pushed her behind him. "Don't touch her," growled Harry as he pulled out his wand.

"Do you really think you can beat me?" hissed Voldemort pointing his own wand at Harry. "There's no one who can save you now, boy. Your parents are dead, so is your godfather, that retched werewolf, and now you and your friends will be joining them. Avada Kadavra."

Suddenly, a flash of bright green light shot out of Voldemort's wand towards them. Harry spun around and pulled Hermione to him to protect her.

The next thing he knew, he was lying in bed back in Ron's room. Icy sweat dripped down his face as he sat up. His body was cold and numb as he climbed out of bed. As he looked outside, he watched the sun climb over the mountains and light up the land. Harry sighed and decided to get dressed before going down to the kitchen.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw the tip of a dark blue cloak as the back door closed. He quickly hurried out of the house after the owner of the cloak. His eyes quickly scanned the land and there, sitting on the ground looking into the sky, was the same little girl he had seen the day Hermione's parents and her had come to visit.

"Who are you?" asked Harry before she could disappear.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The little girl stood up and turned around. Her honey colored eyes were alight with joy as she looked upon him. Her strawberry blond hair flowed around her young face and her freckles reminded Harry of Ginny. The small child was dressed in a long sleeved, glittering, silver dress that gracefully touched her knees. Around her neck was a black leather choker with a black hematite stone hanging from it.

"My name is Starla," said the little girl with a warm kind smile. "I was that Phoenix you saw that warm summer's day."

"How old are you?" asked Harry.

"I'm six," Starla said stepping closer to him. "I know what you're thinking. I'm too young to be transfiguring myself into an animal, but I'm not."

"Your American, aren't you?" said Harry.

"Yes," said Starla.

"Are you related to Blythe?" Harry asked.

"Yes, she's my twin sister," Starla said with a smile. "I'm the older one though."

"Your not identical," pointed out Harry. "That must be nice."

"Our physical appearances are the only thing different between us," said Starla. "But everything else is the same. We are quick learning girls who have high goals in life. Mother believes that we will be very powerful witches and will achieve a lot in life."

"Was that letter from you or your mum?" asked Harry.

"Neither," Starla said. "But I cannot tell you who it's from."

"You sound more sophisticated then Blythe," Harry said.

"She doesn't believe in being older than we actually are," said Starla. "She'd rather be a child and grow up slowly like everyone else."

"So you're the older wiser side," said Harry, "and she's the younger child side."

"Exactly," Starla said. "Well I must be off. Today is very busy. Please, don't tell anyone that I was here. Mother would be quite upset with me if she found out."

"Don't worry I won't," Harry said.

"Well good-bye for now, Harry Potter," said Starla.

Before Harry's eyes, she transfigured herself into a large golden eagle. With two flaps of her wings she lifted off the ground and disappeared into the golden light of the morning sun.

Harry sat outside for nearly three hours before Charlie found him. Charlie stood there at the kitchen door watching him for a few moments before going outside to sit beside him.

"Mornin', Harry," said Charlie.

"Morning, Charlie," said Harry, not looking at him. "When did you get back?"

"Just a few minutes ago," Charlie said. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just thinking," Harry said. "It's nice to think when everything's quiet."

"Yes it is," said Charlie. "So what are you thinking about?"

"Things, people, life," said Harry. "I had a dream last night that got me started thinking about my life."

"I don't care for those kind of dreams," laughed Charlie. "They make me second-guess everything in my life. So what was your dream about?"

"My parents," Harry said. "I was at this house and they were sitting inside and then Sirius and Lupin showed up. Mum told us to go shopping and when we got back they had set up a surprise party for me. Peter Wormtail showed up and my dad sent me, Hermione, and Ron to my room where someone had put a room-sealing spell on my door. So we ended up going out the window and eventually ran into Voldemort and his Death Eaters. I guess Voldemort killed us cause there was this bring green light, but that's when I woke up."

"Wow," Charlie said. "That's definitely one of those dreams that gets you thinking. Have you told anyone else?"

"No," Harry said looking at him. "Please don't tell anyone. I'd rather not have them looking at me out of the corner of their eyes again."

"Sure," he said they heard a pair of feet walk into the kitchen. "Blythe's up or maybe it's mum. Let's go see."

"Okay," said Harry as they stood up and went into the house.

"Morning, Blythe," Charlie said as they watched the small girl look around the kitchen. "Sleep well?"

Blythe was an averaged height six year-old with waist long, jet-black hair and bright green eyes. Today she wore a pair of dark blue bell-bottoms and a cream-colored peasant top. Her waist long hair was braided into an upside down visible French braid, with the tail of the braid tucked behind the rest of her hair.

"Good morning, Charlie," Blythe said. "Yes, I did. Good morning, Harry."

"Morning, Blythe," Harry said with a smile as he looked at her bright green eyes.

"You two look like brother and sister," said Charlie. "Did you do that on purpose, Blythe?"

"Do what? This is my original appearance," said Blythe. "I just didn't feel like looking different today."

"Look mails here," said Harry pointing to the dark brown owl that had just flown into the room.

"Looks like your school lists are here," said Charlie as he took the letters from the owl, who immediately left. "Here you go, Harry, why don't you go wake the others and let them know that their lists are here."

"Okay," Harry said as he ran upstairs.

The first room he went to was Ron's. As he entered the room, he quickly looked to see if he's red headed friend was still asleep. Once he knew for sure that he was, he sneaked into the room and up to the bunk bed.

"Ron," Harry said in a normal voice. "Ron, wake up our school lists are here."

"What, Harry?" asked Ron rolling over onto his back.

"Our school lists are here," Harry said once again.

"What time is it?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at his watch and was amazed at how late it was. "It's almost ten," he said.

"Blimey," said Ron. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Harry said. "I've been up since sun rise which is seven o'clock."

"Ok, I'm up," Ron said. "Wonder where mum is."

"Don't know," said Harry. "She wasn't up when I got up. I'm going to go tell Hermione and Ginny."

"Okay," said Ron as he climbed out of bed.

Harry quietly climbed down the stairs and knocked on Ginny's door. When no one answered, he carefully opened the door. Both Hermione and Ginny were still fast asleep in their beds. Harry first went to Hermione and gently woke her.

"Hermione," he whispered in her ear. "Wake up."

"Hm," said Hermione as her eyes fluttered open. "Harry. What are you doing in here?"

"Our school lists just came," said Harry. "Oh, plus it's almost ten."

"Why is it so late? Mrs. Weasley should have woken us up almost two hours ago," Hermione whispered.

"Don't know where she is," Harry said looking at Ginny. "I'm going to wake Ginny before I leave."

"Okay," said Hermione as Harry kissed her cheek.

Harry quickly moved over to Ginny's bed and knelt beside her. "Ginny, wake up," he said. "Time to get up."

"Harry," said Ginny opening her eyes barely. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten," Harry said. "You need to get up. Our school lists arrived a couple minutes ago."

"Okay," Ginny said.

Harry hurried out of the room and back down stairs where the twins, Bill, Ivy, and Ron were already gathered around the table. "The others are awake," he said taking a seat.

"Where's mum?" asked Fred. "Usually she's got us up at eight."

"I'll go look at the clock," said George standing up and leaving the room.

"Something must have come up," Bill said. "Other wise she wouldn't have left without telling us."

"Well the clock says mum's at the Ministry," George said taking his seat.

"Wonder what she's doing there?" said Charlie.

"Where's mum?" asked Ginny as she and Hermione entered the room.

"She's at the Ministry," said Fred.

"Maybe she's visiting your father," Hermione said sitting on one side of Harry.

"Mum never visits dad at work," Ginny said sitting on the other side of Harry.

"Maybe she had something to do at the Ministry and didn't realize it would take that long," suggested Ron sitting next to Hermione.

"It's possible," Ginny said carefully slipping her hand into Harry's as she leaned against him.

As Ron looked at his little sister, he noticed that she was holding Harry's hand. "Hey, Ginny, why are you holding Harry's hand?" he asked.

"What?" Ginny said sitting straight in her chair.

"Blimey! She is," said Fred looking over the table edge. "Way to go, Ginny."

"So you two are going out now," said Charlie with a smile. "Congratulations."

"Be careful, Harry," said George. "She's a wild one. That's probably why she can't keep a boyfriend."

"No, that's not why," said Fred. "It's because those guys were all losers."

"But what happens if Ginny and Harry break up?" asked Bill.

"Then no big deal," said Fred. "If they don't last everything goes back to the way they were before. Only because we know Harry's a good guy."

"Exactly," said George with a smile. "You be a good girl, Ginny."

"Buzz off," said Ginny. "I'm hungry I hope mum gets home soon."

"What do we want for breakfast?" asked Ivy playing with her wand.

"Sausage," said Ron.

"With waffles," said Blythe.

"You always want waffles, squirt," Ivy said. "How about you guys try something foreign?"

"Okay," said Fred and George.

"Stuffed French Toast with sausage patties and Pink Ladies?" said Ivy looking at Blythe. "Any objections?"

"Not from me," said Charlie.

"Yummy!" laughed Blythe with a wide smile. "With whip cream?"

"You don't need that much sugar, brat," Ivy said to her young niece.

"Meany head," Blythe said. "I'm gonna tell mama that your being mean to me."

"What kind of filling do you want in your toast?" asked Ivy pointing to George.

"Chocolate," said George as a plate and glass appeared before him.

"Chocolate," said Fred and the same thing happened.

"Blackberry," said Bill, same thing happened.

"Blueberry," Charlie said as a plate and glass appeared before him.

"Raspberry," said Ginny, same thing happened.

"Chocolate," said Harry, same thing happened.

"Strawberry," said Hermione, same thing happened.

"Chocolate," said Ron, same thing happened.

Finally, a plate, with French Toast and sausage on it, and a glass of Pink Lady appeared before Ivy. Everyone began to eat their breakfast very carefully except Ivy, Blythe, Bill, and Charlie.

"Hey, Ivy," said Ginny.

"Yes?" Ivy said looking up from her breakfast.

"What's a Pink Lady made of?" asked Ginny.

"Two bananas and a handful of raspberries," said Ivy with a smile. "It's good for the body. Drink it, Blythe."

Blythe looked up sharply at her young aunt and frowned. She pulled out her wand and tapped the edge of the glass. The light pink liquid suddenly turned black. She quickly flashed Ivy a smile and began to drink her what use to be a Pink Lady.

"What is that?" asked Ron looking at the black liquid.

"A Black Shadow," said Blythe with a smile. "Instead of raspberries, it's got blackberries."

"I'm home," said a high pitched feminine voice.

"Welcome home, mum," said Bill. "We're in the kitchen."

"I'm glad to see that you're all up," said Mrs. Weasley as she entered the kitchen. "Hello, Shannon. Good to see you again."

"Wrong person, mum," said Charlie. "That's Ivy. Shannon's twin sister."

Mrs. Weasley looked closely at Ivy and said, "I'm terribly sorry. I completely forgot about Shannon talking about you, Ivy."

"It's okay, Mrs. Weasley," Ivy said politely. "Most people confuse us anyway. Would you like some breakfast?"

"No thank you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "I ate before I left. Sorry about not leaving a note or anything but I was running late this morning."

"Where'd you go?" asked Ginny, drinking the last of her Pink Lady.

"I had people to visit and things to buy," said Mrs. Weasley. "I see your supply lists came today. Once everyone's done eating we'll go to Diagon Alley."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"All right you lot," said Mrs. Weasley as they walked down a street in Diagon Alley. "We need to go Gringotts bank and pick up some money before we start. Can you four take care of your things?"

"Us?" said Ron.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said. "And take Blythe with you too."

"I don't want him to watch me," Blythe said pointing at Ron. "I want Harry to watch me."

"That's fine, dear," said Mrs. Weasley as they entered Gringotts bank. "Harry, you go first."

"Okay," Harry said stepping up to a teller. "Hello, I'd like to make a withdrawal."

"Name please," asked the Goblin behind the desk.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Key?" asked the Goblin.

"Yes," Harry said.

"Follow him," said the Goblin pointing to another Goblin waiting at a door. "Name?"

"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

Harry walked over to the Goblin beside the door with Blythe in tow and Hermione close behind. The Goblin led them to a waiting cart and they all piled in. Once the Goblin was seated, the cart suddenly began to speed down the track going further and further underground. Finally, the cart came to halt at Harry's vault. They all climbed out of the cart and walked over to the vault.

"Key please," said the Goblin.

Harry handed the key to him and stood back holding Blythe close to him. The Goblin quickly opened the vault and Harry stepped inside grabbing several handfuls of each coin. Once he had emerged, the vault door closed and the key was returned. This process continued at Hermione's vault before they returned to the main floor where the Weasley's were waiting for them.

"You five have fun now," Mrs. Weasley said as they stepped outside. "Well meet up at the Leaky Cauldron tonight at six."

"Okay," Ron and Harry said.

"See ya," said Fred as he and his twin disappeared into the mass of people.

Mrs. Weasley, Charlie, Bill, and Ivy disappeared into the crowd of people hurrying up and down Diagon Alley. Harry took Blythe's hand and they were off, heading for the nearest shop, which just happened to be the bookstore.

"Didn't mommy give you two every book you would ever need for school?" Blythe asked directly to Ron and Ginny.

"Oh yeah," said Ginny, "she did. That means we can spend more money on things like robes and that kind of thing."

"Thank goodness," Ron said. "Mine are still too small for me."

"How about you two go get robes while we get our books?" suggested Hermione.

"Good idea," said Ron. "Come on, Ginny. Before mum finds us and takes some of our money away."

"See you later," Ginny said kissing Harry's cheek.

"Bye," Blythe said. "Icky."

"What's icky, Blythe?" asked Harry as they walked further into the bookstore.

"Kissing," said Blythe making a funny face.

"Lots of people kiss, Blythe," Hermione pointed out. "Even your mum and dad."

"I don't have a dad though," Blythe said looking at them. "I miss my daddy."

Blythe suddenly spun around and wrapped her arms around Harry's legs. Harry looked at Hermione and then at the little girl.

"Blythe," Harry said removing the little girl from his legs, "it's okay. Hermione didn't mean to make you feel sad."

"I know," Blythe said holding her arms up. "But still."

Harry bent down and picked up the little girl. She laid her head on his shoulder as they found the books they needed. As they looked for the last book on their list, a familiar voice rang through the air.

"Babysitting, Potter," said a hissing voice.

Hermione and Harry spun around and saw Draco Malfoy standing there, with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. Draco's white hair fell around his thin pale face while his dark blue eyes burned bright.

"A cousin or something, Potter," hissed Malfoy glaring at Hermione. "Or maybe another mudblood? I wouldn't be surprised."

"Get lost, Malfoy," Harry said calmly.

"Found them, Harry," Hermione said grabbing two books off the shelf. "Let's go before something happens."

But without warning, Draco's head was suddenly replaced with that of a frog. The frog's head still had the white hair and the dark blue eyes. As it opened its mouth to speak, instead of words coming out everyone heard crocks. A tall, thin woman with long flowing black hair suddenly came into the bookstore and dragged the frog headed Malfoy away with Crabbe and Goyle hot on their heals.

"What happened?" asked Seamus, a fellow Gryffindor, as he hurried over to Harry and Hermione. "Did you do that, Harry?"

"Wasn't me," Harry said. "But that was cool."

"Yeah it was," Blythe said quietly.

"Who's this, Harry?" asked Parvati Patil, also a Gryffindor, from behind Seamus. "She's so cute."

"She's just a friend," said Harry, feeling his face growing redder by the minute.

"What's her name?" Parvati asked.

"Blythe," Harry said. "Come on, Hermione. We've got lost of stuff to buy."

"See you guys on the train," said Hermione as they made their way to the clerk.

Once they had paid for their books, they made their way back into the street where they found Ron and Ginny waiting with two packages each in their arms.

"I see you two bought new robes," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Ron said. "Where should we go next?"

"Quill store," Harry said. "Mine are starting to die."

"So are mine," Ginny said. "The quill store's right there too."

It took them only about an hour and a half to find everything they needed for school. Once they had bought everything, they found a nice little café to eat lunch. As they ate their sandwiches, they talked about the upcoming year.

"So what are you going to do this year, Blythe?" asked Ginny.

"Practice my wizarding skills," Blythe said drinking her pumpkin juice. "Mommy says that if I keep practicing then I'll be at the top of my class and they might move me up a grade."

"You can actually be moved up a grade in American Wizarding schools?" said Hermione. "Wow."

"If you lived in America, Hermione, you would already be out of school," said Harry. "So, Blythe, can you do transfiguration yet?"

"Oh yes," said Blythe. "That's my favorite area of study."

"What can you turn yourself into?" asked Ron.

"An Antipodean Opaleye, a Fairy, a Phoenix, a Unicorn, the Aethonan winged horse, and a wolf," Blythe said.

"Wow and your only six," said Hermione. "None of us can do any of that."

But what Hermione was saying was only half-right. What she and the others did not know, was that Harry had been practicing to become an Animagus. Ever since the summer after their fifth year, Harry had been working on transfiguring himself into an animal. Actually to be more precise, a dog just like, his godfather, Sirius Black.

"Hey, Harry," said a familiar voice.

Harry and the others looked up and saw Angelina walking towards them with two other young ladies. "Angelina, hey," he said.

"Hi, guys," Angelina said. "How are you?"

"Fine," Ginny said. "What are you up too?"

"Shopping," said Angelina.

"Harry," said Blythe. "Can I have a Butterbeer, please?"

"Sure," Harry said. "Anyone else want a Butterbeer?"

"Sure," everyone said.

"Eight then," Harry said standing up. "I'll be right back."

"I'm coming," Blythe said following Harry.

"She's so cute," said one of Angelina's friends.

"Eight Butterbeers please," said Harry.

"Good day, Mr. Potter," said a feminine voice to his left.

Harry slowly turned his head to see who was talking to him and there stood Mrs. Longbottom, Neville's grandmother. She was a tall slender elderly woman with silvery hair and deep brown eyes.

"Hello, Mrs. Longbottom," Harry said as Blythe watched the elderly woman from under the counter.

Mrs. Longbottom's hand slipped into her purse and pulled out a piece of candy. "Would you like a piece of candy?" she asked Blythe. "I don't bite, I promise."

"Go ahead," Harry said giving her a little nudge. "Mrs. Longbottom's a nice woman."

Blythe slipped out from under the counter and walked over to Mrs. Longbottom. "So how are you doing?" she asked Harry.

"Fine," said Harry. "Where's Neville?"

"He's shopping with one of his uncles," Mrs. Longbottom said handing Blythe the piece of candy. "There you go, dear."

"Thank you, Mrs. Longbottom," Blythe said with a big smile as she ate the candy.

"Are you ready for your last year at Hogwarts?" asked Mrs. Longbottom.

"Yes," Harry said as the bartender handed him eight Butterbeers. "It was nice talking to you, Mrs. Longbottom. Have a nice day."

"I want to take some," Blythe said.

Harry handed her three of the Butterbeers and took the other five in his arms. "Here we go," he said as he and Blythe passed the bottles out.

"Thanks, Harry," said Angelina. "So who's the cutie?"

"A friend's daughter," said Harry. "This is Blythe."

"Hi," Blythe said with a big smile.

"Hey," said Angelina and her two friends.

"So are you guys done shopping already?" asked one of Angelina's friends as they pulled up chairs.

"Yeah," said Ron. "We've got until six before we have to meet up with mum."

"Wow you guys have three hours to waist," said Angelina's second friend. "Did you guys see Malfoy earlier? That was wicked."

"Yeah we saw him," said Hermione with a smile. "Did you two see him, Ginny?"

"Yeah we were just coming out of the robe shop when his mother dragged him out of the bookstore," Ginny said. "It was so delightful. Ron didn't think it was him, until he saw the hair."


	16. Chapter 16

NFA: Sorry that it took me so long to update this story, but I had writer's block and I was also busy. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will work very hard to get the rest of the story done. I promise.

Chapter 16

They sat there talking to each other for about two hours before Angelina and her friends had to leave. Once they were done with their Butterbeers, Harry and the gang left the café and proceeded to the Leaky Cauldron where they found Bill and Ivy playing Wizards Chess. The gang gathered around the two and sat there in silence, as the game became very serious.

"Check mate," Ivy said as her rook destroyed Bill's castle. "Nice try. Reparo."

"How many times has she won?" asked Ginny, curling up beside Harry.

"Three times," Bill said. "Ivy's been playing since she was little."

"So have you," Ron said as they reset the board. "Can I play you, Ivy?"

"Sure," Ivy said. "White or black?"

"White," Ron said taking Bill's spot.

As they sat there playing Wizards Chess, Fred and George appeared out of thin air and began to work on several lists.

"What are you two up to now?" asked Bill.

"Work," Fred said.

"Okay you lot," said Mrs. Weasley as she came over to them. "I see that everyone is here. Let's get moving."

Everyone stood up, gathered their things, and followed Mrs. Weasley back home.

"Everyone hide," said George as he and Fred came running into the living room.

"What did you two do?" asked Hermione.

"You don't want to know," Fred said as every jumped to their feet. "Now hide."

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him down into the empty room. She quickly closed the door and walked over to him.

"I wonder what they did," Hermione said as her and Harry sat below the window.

"I don't think we want to know," Harry said slipping his hand into hers.

Hermione turned her head and smiled at the young man beside her. Harry returned the smile and leaned forward. Their lips touched and suddenly they heard Mrs. Weasley scream at the top of her lungs. They both looked towards the door with wide eyes as they waited for something else to happen, but all fell silent.

"You think it's safe?" asked Hermione.

"Let's wait a while," Harry said leaning down and kissing his young lover once more.

Hermione moved so that she knelt between her lover's legs and leaned forward. Harry leaned forward as well and soon their lips met. His strong hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Their lips touched as he held her there. Suddenly, someone started yelling their names.

"Harry," someone yelled. "Hermione. Where are you two?"

"Let's go," Hermione said jumping to her feet.

Harry quickly followed as Hermione dashed for the door. As she opened it, Fred and George came dashing down the stairs.

"There you two are," said Fred.

"We thought you were in the basement," said George as he looked up the stairs. "Ron, we found them."

"Where were they?" called a voice.

"In the spare room," called Fred.

"It was the closest hiding place we could find," Harry said as Ron and Ginny came down the stairs. "Where'd you guys hide?"

"Ron's room," said Ginny as she moved to Harry's side. "Mum's gone to a friend's house for a little while so we're safe until she comes home."

"You mean Fred and George are safe," said Ron. "We didn't do a thing."

"Where's Blythe?" asked Harry not having seen the child since they got back to the Burrow.

"She's outside playing," Ginny said.

"I'm right here," Blythe said as she came out of the kitchen. "Bad twins."

Fred and George looked at each other and then at the little girl walking towards them. "What did we do?" asked Fred.

"You made your mommy mad," said Blythe standing next to Harry. "You made her very scary."

Everyone laughed as Blythe grabbed Harry's hand.

The night passed without many incidents. Fred made peace with Blythe before she went to bed in Ginny's room. At seven, the twins went to their room to work on some forms and were soon followed by Ginny. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat in the living room talking until about nine when Mrs. Weasley suddenly popped into the kitchen.

"Where is everyone?" asked Mrs. Weasley as she walked into the living room.

"Um…Ginny and Blythe are in bed," said Hermione. "Fred and George are up in their room."

"Don't know if they're asleep or not," said Ron.

"Did you lot eat?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes," said Harry.

"Harry's a really good cook, mum," Ron said with a wide smile.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at them and then said, "Well you three better get to bed. You have a train to catch in the morning."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry said as they filed up the stairs.

"Night," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Night," they said.

"Night," Ron said to Hermione as he continued up the stairs.

"Night, Hermione," Harry said squeezing her hand real quick.

"Night," Hermione said as she disappeared into Ginny's room.

Once Harry and Ron were in their pajamas and in bed, Ron said, "Can't believe we go back to Hogwarts tomorrow."

"Either can I," said Harry. "Night, Ron."

"Night, Harry," Ron said as he fell asleep.

Harry soon followed in Ron's steps and was asleep within minutes.

The next morning, Harry and Ron were rudely awoken by a loud scream that came from down stairs. Both young men sat straight up in their beds and looked at the door. Suddenly, the door flew open as Hermione and Ginny came flying into the room. They were fully dressed in black skirts, white long sleeved button up shirts, black knee high socks, and black shoes. With a loud bang, the door slammed behind them. Both of the young ladies dove onto Harry's bed and watched the door intently.

"What's going on?" asked Ron.

"Fred and George are pulling a prank on mum again," Ginny said as she clung to Harry's arm.

"They released some charmed rubber snakes right outside the back door," Hermione said clinging to Harry's other arm. "And they came under the door."

Harry looked at Hermione and noticed that her skirt was pushed to the top of her leg. Slowly, he picked up his hand and rested it on her knee. Hermione jumped and looked at him.

"You two should change," suggested Ginny. "You two slept in a little later than mum wanted."

"We're not changing with you two in here," spat Ron.

"Your mother told us to come in here and stay put until she caught every single snake," retorted Hermione.

"Give me your sheet, Ron," said Harry standing up.

"Why?" asked Ron.

"Give me your sheet so we can make a wall to change behind," Harry said.

"Oh ok," Ron said handing Harry his sheet.

Harry quickly stood his trunk on its end and pinned the sheet between the trunk and the wall. He then stood Ron's trunk up on its end and pinned the sheet between it and the bed.

"There," Harry said. "It may be low but it's high enough to cover our waists and lower."

"We'll keep our backs turned if that helps, Ron," Hermione said as she and Ginny turned and faced the other wall.

Ron jumped down off his bed and the two young men proceeded to quickly change their cloths. Once they were done, Harry tossed Ron's sheet back onto his bed.

"How long is it going to take for mum to get rid of the snakes?" asked Ron sitting on his trunk.

"Dunno," Hermione said.

"I'll be back," Ron said as he Disapparated from the room.

"He sure is in a cranky mood," said Ginny, sitting at Harry's feet.

"I don't know what his problem is," Harry said petting Ginny's hair. "But it started after we passed our Apparition test."

"It's because of me," said Hermione pulling her knees to her chest.

Harry looked from the door to Hermione and noticed that her skirt was pulled back from her legs as she sat there, and revealed a pair of white panties. He quickly looked away and felt his face turning red.

"Thank you, Harry," Ginny said.

"What for?" asked Harry looking at her.

"For pretending to be my boyfriend for a while at school," said Ginny looking up at him.

"Your welcome," Harry said.

A loud crack filled the room as Ron Apparated back into the room. "Well mum's done," Ron said. "We can go downstairs and have breakfast now."

"Where are the twins?" asked Hermione as she stood up.

"Gone," said Ron. "They already left for work."

"Good," Ginny said. "We're safe."

The four of them quickly proceed downstairs and into the kitchen, where they found Mrs. Weasley and Charlie sitting at the table talking. Five bowls of porridge sat at the opposite end of the table along with five glasses of juice and some toast.

"Good morning," Mrs. Weasley said taking a sip of her tea.

"Good morning," they all said sitting down.

"You lot hurry up before you're late for the train," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Mum, Ginny's the only one who has to worry," Charlie pointed out. "These three passes their test."

"I don't care," Mrs. Weasley said. "Where's Blythe? Her breakfast is getting cold."

"I'm here," Blythe said hurrying into the room.

Blythe was wearing a pair of old light blue jeans, a bell sleeved pink v-neck shirt, and black Mary Jane's. Her hair was it's normal bright red color and pulled back into a tight French braid.

"Hurry up and eat," instructed Mrs. Weasley as she left the room. "We have to get to the train station on time."

Once Mrs. Weasley was out of earshot, Ron turned to Charlie and asked, "What's wrong with mum?"

"Percy," Charlie said. "He sent mum a letter."

"Saying what?" asked Ginny.

"Saying that her and dad are going to end up in a whole lot of trouble," said Charlie, "if they don't stop conversing with Dumbledore."

"He still believes the Ministry," said Harry. "Even after everything that has happened."

"Percy's being lied to by the Ministry, Harry," Charlie said. "We don't blame him for what he believes."

"It's Fudge's fault," Hermione said. "He and his underlings create false evidence to prove Dumbledore wrong."

"Let's just drop this subject please," asked Charlie. "We don't need to get into a fight about this again."

Everyone agreed and finished eating breakfast. An hour later, the seven of them left the Burrow and were on their way to Platform nine and three quarters.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Hurry up you lot," said Mrs. Weasley as they hurried through the muggle packed station.

"Mum, slow down," said Charlie. "The train's not to leave for another fifteen minutes."

"I don't care," Mrs. Weasley hissed. "Everyone has everything? Nothing was left at home?"

"We have everything," said Ginny.

"Nothing was left at home," said Ron.

"Okay, hurry," said Mrs. Weasley. "Get through right now."

As quickly as they could, each person passed through the barrier between Platforms nine and ten. Beyond the magical barrier were fellow wizarding families seeing off their own children, whether they were first years or seventh years.

"Hurry and get your luggage loaded," ordered Mrs. Weasley. "That way we don't have to worry about it later."

Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron climbed onto the train and quickly found an empty compartment. After storing their trunks away in the compartment, they went back onto the platform to talk to their friends and family. After they said their good-byes, Mrs. Weasley, Blythe, and Charlie went home. Dean, Seamus, and Neville, who were just as happy to be going back to Hogwarts, soon joined them on the platform after saying good-bye to their families.

"Oh great here comes Malfoy," said Dean, a tall Gryffindor student. "And he's got a lady friend with him."

Everyone turned around and there, strolling towards them, was Draco Malfoy. A tall young man of seventeen, with pale blond hair that fell around his thin pale face and pale blue eyes, from the house of Slytherin at Hogwarts.

Fumbling behind him were his goons Crabbe and Goyle, and beside him, seeming to almost float across the floor, was a young lady. Her waist length, raven black hair with bleach tips flowed around her young face and her soft gentle blue eyes glittered in the sunlight. She wore a dark green, dragon hide, knee length skirt, a loose black blouse, black dragon hide high heals, and a sapphire cloak that skirted around her heals.

"Is that Shannon?" Harry whispered to Hermione.

"I think so," Hermione whispered.

"Look who it is," spat Malfoy as he spotted Harry. "It's Potter and his gang of freaks."

"Shove it, Malfoy," Ron said as they approached the group.

"Shouldn't you all be working on your dark arts prevention," Malfoy sneered. "Oh wait! You don't need that ridiculous club anymore since you injured Professor Umbridge."

"Well too bad your father's not here to protect you this year," hissed Hermione.

"Well at least I'm not a filthy mudblood," growled Malfoy.

"Draco!" snapped the young lady. "That's enough. The trains going to leave in a couple minutes now go get on."

"Stay out of this, Shan," snapped Malfoy.

"Your father left me in charge of you so get moving right now," demanded Shannon as she spun Draco around and marched off with him at her side.

"How does she know the Malfoys?" asked Ron.

"Who was that?" asked Seamus, a fellow Gryffindor.

"Dunno," lied Harry. "We better get on the train."

The group quickly boarded the train and found their compartment. Once the train began to move and everyone on board had found a place to sit, Hermione closed their compartment door.

"What was Shannon doing with Malfoy?" asked Ron.

"I have no idea," Ginny said sitting beside Harry. "Thank goodness Charlie wasn't there. No one can tell Charlie that we saw Shannon with Draco."

"I agree," said Hermione. "We don't know why she's with them."

"I wonder who our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be this year," said Harry changing the subject.

"It's always a surprise," Hermione said.

The compartment fell silent as they train roared down the tracks.

They were halfway to Hogwarts when it began to rain. Cold, icy sheets of rain pounded on the windows as the landscape passed by. Lighting and thunder sounded in the distance. By the time the train came to a halt, the rain was pouring, soaking everything that dared to set foot outside. The students quickly filled off the train. A familiar voice boomed over the chatter, calling for first years.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" called the voice.

It was Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper of Hogwarts and professor of 'Care of Magical Creatures'. He just happened to be half-giant. This made him quite easy to find.

"The rest of you move along the path to the carriages," Hagrid said. "C'mon, firs' years follow me!"

The second years followed the older students as they all walked down a cobble stone path to the waiting black carriages. Pulling each carriage were two thestrals. Creatures, you could only see if you had seen a death, resembling shinny black horses with the excepting that they appeared to be just skin and bones, and had leathery wings like a bat.

"This one," said Harry finding an empty carriage.

He quickly helped Hermione and Ginny into the carriage before allowing Ron to climb in and then himself. Once the door was closed, the carriage lunged forward as they started their journey to the castle.

"I hate rain," exclaimed Ginny looking at her soaked cloak.

"Well we had better run into the castle then so that we don't end up like sponges," said Hermione.

Harry leaned over to Ginny, as Ron and Hermione bickered about the weather, and whispered, "So who is it that wanted you to go out with them?"

"Anthony Goldstein from Ravenclaw," Ginny whispered leaning against him. "I'll point him out when I see him."

Harry smiled at the young lady beside him and then looked at his young lover across from them. Her eyes were narrowed as she looked out the window. They road the rest of the way in silence.

As they came to a stop in front of the castle, Harry through the door open and they all jumped from the carriage on a dead run for the front doors. Once inside, Professor Sprout handed them towels to quickly dry off with.

"My, my," said Professor Sprout. "It's coming down harder than we thought it would."

"And I was hoping for a nice clear night," said Lavender as she tossed her towel into a growing pile. "Oh well."

"Everyone hurry along," Professor Sprout said. "The first years will be here in a few minutes."

"Let's hurry and find a place to sit," said Ron as they climbed the stairs to the Great Hall.

"Ginny," called a voice from behind them.

They all stopped and looked at the bottom of the stairway. There, climbing the stairs two at a time, was a young man around Ginny's age with short sandy colored hair and hazel eyes. Once he reached them, he looked Harry over and then turned to Ginny.

"Have you thought about what I said?" asked the young man.

"The answer is still no," said Ginny. "I told you, Anthony. I'm dating someone else."

"Who? Michael?" Anthony said. "Michael doesn't respect you."

"I'm not with Michael," Ginny said.

"Come on, Ginny," Harry said leading her away from the young man.

"Back off, man," said Anthony as he grabbed Ginny's wrist. "We're talking."

"Let go of her," said Harry.

"This has nothing to do with you so buzz off," Anthony said.

Suddenly, another young man about Ginny's age grabbed Anthony's arm and said, "Dude, do you know who he is?"

"I don't care," Anthony said. "Stewart, let go of me."

"That's Harry Potter," said Stewart.

Anthony frowned as he ripped his arm from his friend's grip. "What's Ginny to you?" he asked as he looked Harry over.

"He's my boyfriend," Ginny said.

The color drained from Anthony and Stewart's faces. Harry smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist, leaned down, and gently kissed Ginny's cheek.

"Come on, we need to take our seats," Harry said.

As Harry led Ginny away, she looked back one last time and saw the two young men staring at them. They looked at each other and hurried into the Great Hall with their fellow classmates.

"Over here, Harry," Hermione said.

She and Ron had found a nice spot in the center of the table. Harry sat down beside Hermione and Ginny beside him. Ron was seated on the opposite side talking to Dean and Neville about what they might learn this year.

"One empty chair," said Hermione. "Same every year."

"I wonder who the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is going to be," said Ginny.

"Who knows," said Harry. "We've had some interesting professors over the last seven years."

"Hey, Draco," said a young lady from the Slytherin table. "Who was the young woman with you today at the platform?"

Harry turned his head so he could hear what Draco's answer would be. "Ya, Pansy's right," said a young man. "Who was she, Draco?"

"She's someone my parents know," said Draco. "She's the only daughter of a highly respectable wizarding family in America."

"What's she like?" asked Pansy, sitting beside Draco.

But before Draco could answer, the doors to the Great Hall opened and Professor McGonagall entered followed closely by several terrified first years. They quickly lined up at the bottom of the stage where the teacher table sat. McGonagall quickly retrieved a three-legged stool and old battered hat and placed it before the new students.

"Silence please," said McGonagall, her voice traveling to the back of the hall.

The hall fell silent as all eyes, with the exception of those belonging to the first years, fell upon the old wizard's hat. Near the top, a rip appeared as the hat began to talk.

"Danger all around.

Beware the darkness,

That creeps ever closer.

We must come together,

Before we are torn apart.

Enemies must form alliances.

Feuds must be put aside.

The lives of everyone,

Hangs in the balance.

"But right now,

I must sort you into your houses.

Which is unnecessary in these times,

But it is my duties.

"You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart.

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where those are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuff's

Are true and unafraid of toil.

"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you're a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind.

Or perhaps in Slytherin,

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means,

To achieve their ends.

"So heed my warnings,

for I know all that has passed

through these ancient stone walls.

Now put me snug around your head,

And I will put you in your place."

The silence was thick, no one knowing what to do. Suddenly, the sound of clapping filled the hall. All eyes moved towards the sound of the clapping. The hands clapping belonged to the headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore. A very elderly wizard who seemed to be going mad at times. He had a long silver beard and hair. His deep penetrating eyes were hidden behind half-moon glasses. Slowly, the rest of the teachers began to clap, soon followed the Gryffindor table and then the other three.

Professor McGonagall raised her hand after a few moments and said, "Quiet please. Quiet." The hall once again fell silent. "As I call your name please come forward and sit on the stool. Adele, Abby."

A young girl stepped forward. She had long blond hair that fell to her waist. As she sat on the stool, McGonagall placed the sorting hat upon her head. The hat thought for a moment before shouting out, "Ravenclaw!"

The young girl sighed as she ran to the table to cheering Ravenclaws, who welcomed her with open arms. The next name to be called was "Adone, Lucas" who was immediately placed into Slytherin right as the hat touched his head.

This went on until every first year was sorted into all four houses. Then Dumbledore stood up and all fell silent once more.

"Welcome one and all," said Dumbledore. "I am very glad to see so many faces. Some new, some old, some for the very last time."

All the tables laughed.

"I have some announcements to make," the old headmaster said. "For you first years, the forbidden forest is off limits to all. No exceptions."

As Dumbledore continued down the usual list of rules that must be spoken, Harry felt something touch his left hand. He quickly looked down and saw that Hermione had laid her hand upon his. They quickly exchanged smiles before looking back at the headmaster.

"As you all can see we have an empty chair next to mine," he said. "This seat belongs to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Our new professor should be arriving soon."

There was a sudden knock at the grand double doors of the Great Hall. A hushed whisper filled the room. The doors, suddenly, began to open on their own. Once the doors were open far enough for a person to pass through, a figure in a sapphire cloak entered the hall.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The figure passed down the center of the hall, between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, closely followed by a large dog. This dog was thin, but well fed, with sleek shinny black fur touched with gray.

"Ah, welcome, Professor," said Dumbledore as the dog and figure stopped at the end of the tables.

A pair of thin and lightly tanned hands appeared out from the sapphire cloak and pushed back the large hood hiding the figure's features, to reveal a young lady. She had dark blue eyes and long black hair with fiery red tips. Her hair was loosely braided and was draped over her shoulder. She wore a pair of black boots and a dark blue gown that hugged her the base of her neck and skirted her ankles.

"Good evening, headmaster," the young lady said with a curtsy. "I am honored to be here in such a prestigious school. Your invitation was most unexpected."

"That's might be Shannon," Hermione whispered into Harry's ear.

"Shannon can change her appearance," Harry whispered back.

The young lady turned around and faced the students. "This is Professor Shannon Darconia," announced Dumbledore. "She is our new Dark Arts teacher. She was kind enough to agree to come all the way from America to teach at our school."

Shannon turned on her heels and quickly moved to her spot beside the headmaster at the table. Once she was seated and the large dog curled up at her feet, Dumbledore returned his attention to the students.

"Now that everyone is here," the headmaster said. "Let the feast begin."

On the long tables, platters of food suddenly appeared. From meats to vegetables to sweet desserts. The students gave a great cheer and began to fill their plates before them with food.

Harry glanced up at the teachers' table and caught Hagrid's attention. They exchanged waves and smiles. Harry's eyes continued down the table and stopped at Dumbledore and Shannon. They were talking while Dumbledore petted her dog.

The dog suddenly looked at Harry. It seemed to be smiling at him. For some reason, the way the dog looked at him seemed familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. Slowly, the dog stood up and made his way to Harry.

Shannon looked at once towards her pet as it made its way down to the tables. Dumbledore, also, watched the large dog as it stopped and looked at Harry. Harry looked back at the table, took a chicken leg as he ate and handed it to the canine, who took it happily, and laid down right there.

"Hey, Hermione," said Harry quietly. "Does this dog look familiar?"

Hermione looked up from her food and looked at the dog. The dog looked at her and cocked its head to the side as if to say 'what are you looking at?'. Her eyes narrowed as she turned back to Harry.

"Not really," she said. "Why?"

"No reason," he said looking at the dog again.

This time, the dog winked. Harry looked from the dog to Shannon who was smiling at them and then back at the dog who seemed to be laughing at him. The dog stood and went back to his spot at Shannon's feet.

As Harry looked at the dog, memories of Sirius came flooding back. Harry had had a hard time getting over his godfather's death nearly two years ago. He had become quiet and solitaire, only writing to his friends to let them know he was alive and 'okay'. Whenever a member of the order would pop by, he would pretend to be okay. But deep inside, they knew he was still hurting.

"Harry," said Ron.

Harry spun his head around to see what Ron wanted and found that Dean and Neville were staring at him. "What?" he asked.

"What do you hope we learn this year in Defense?" asked Dean.

"I don't know," Harry said with a smile. "I just hope it's exciting like the last six years."

"And better than fifth year," said Neville. "Umbridge was at St. Mungo's for seven month after they found her in the forest."

Harry, Ron, Ginny, Dean, and Hermione laughed. "She deserved what she got," said Hermione. "Trying to tell centaurs what to do. You must be crazy to try that."

None of them were big fans of Professor Umbridge, their Dark Arts professor fifth year. The only house that liked her was Slytherin, but that was only because they're just as evil as she was.

"This school would be better off with her here instead of the mad man you lot call headmaster," said a cold harsh voice from behind Harry.

They turned around to see Malfoy's pale face sneering at them. Pansy had a smirk on her pug-like face as she waited for one of them to say something. But they turned around and continued to talk, ignoring the snickers and whispers behind them.

A ringing sound filled the hall as McGonagall tapped her crystal glass with a fork. All heads turned towards the sound as Dumbledore stood.

He cleared his throat and said, "Now that our stomachs are full and feel like they're going to explode, it is time to say good night. May this year be full of excitement."

Everyone clapped.

"Tonight we welcome new members to our family," he said with a wide smile. "But tomorrow is the first day of term and we must have our sleep so we may be ready to dive head first into our lessons and learn things to help us prepare for the future. So now I say good night to you all and may your dreams be peaceful. Now, off to bed with you."

The hall then erupted in applause and cheer for the headmaster. Once the noise had settled, the prefects called out for the students to follow them as they went to their common rooms.

Hermione and Ginny stood on either side of Harry, as they were last to make their way out of the Great Hall. Behind them, they suddenly heard a sharp, familiar voice mixed with a sweet and gentle voice. Since the mob before them wasn't moving very fast, Harry and the girls were able to listen to the conversation behind them.

"Professor Snape," said the sweet and gentle voice.

"Please, call me Severus, Miss Darconia," Snape said.

"Please call me Shannon," said Shannon. "Miss Darconia is too formal."

"What can I do for you?" asked Snape.

"I was wondering if you could take a look at what I've planned for the first few weeks," Shannon said. "I'm new at this and I would love to have the opinion of someone who's been teaching for so long and from someone who's been after this position for so long."

"I would be honored," Snape said his voice hinted with pride. "Please follow me and we can talk it over."

"Thank you, Severus," said Shannon. "Do you mind if Morpheus comes?"

Snape looked at the dog at her side and smiled. "Of course," he said. "This way."

They left the group and went down a stone stairwell behind the Slytherins. Harry looked at Hermione who just shrugged and then at Ginny who wasn't paying any attention to what they just heard. He shook his head as they climbed the many stairs leading to the portrait of the fat lady.

"I wonder what Dark Arts is going to be like after Snape gets done talking to her," said Hermione.

"I hope nothing like Umbridge's class," Harry laughed as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

"I'll see you in the morning," Ginny said kissing Harry's cheek. "Good night."

"Night, Gin," said Harry.

"Night," Hermione said as she ran upstairs. "Finally, sometime to ourselves."

Harry smiled as they moved to the most hidden part of the room, which just happened to be the large chairs beside the fire. Hermione let Harry sit down before sitting on his lap. He set his hand on her thigh as she leaned down and began to kiss him. Carefully, Harry ran his fingers through her silk soft hair as he returned her passionate kisses. After about five minutes, Hermione pulled back and smiled at Harry.

"We better get to bed before someone comes looking for either of us," she said regretfully.

"You're right," he said as she stood up. "But we'll see each other in the morning."

"True," she said as he stood up.

"Good night," he said kissing her cheek quickly.

"Night," she said as they went their separate ways.

As Harry entered the bedroom he shared with Seamus, Ron, Neville, and Dean they all looked at him with curious looks. They had already changed into their pajamas and had congregated on Harry's bed.

"Where did you get to?" asked Seamus.

"I was down stairs," Harry said. "Just remembering something."

"Snuffles?" asked Ron.

"Yeah," lied Harry.

"Who's Snuffles?" asked Dean.

"Harry's dog," Ron lied. "He died over the summer."

"That suck," Seamus said.

Harry quickly changed his clothes and joined his friends on his bed. Seamus sat at the end of the bed, Neville sat on a bed to Harry's left, Ron sat on the edge of the bed to Harry's right, and Dean sat on the nightstand between Harry and Neville. Ron tossed him a bag of jellybeans and said, "I can't wait until our first Defense class."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Harry.

"Why?" asked Seamus.

"Because she's talking to Snape right now about what to teach us," Harry said. "I heard them talking as we left the Great Hall."

"Great," Ron said. "Different subject please."

The guys laughed at Ron as they began to talk about their summer.

The next morning as everyone sat down to breakfast, McGonagall handed out his or her schedule. Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville had all the same classes.

"Great we've got double Defense today," Ron said.

"Yeah but at least it's not double Potions," Harry said.

"Morning, Harry," Ginny said as she bounded over to him.

"Morning, Gin," Harry said as she sat beside him.

"Get your schedule yet?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah you?" he asked handing her his schedule.

"Yep," she said handing hers over. "I've got double Potions this year."

"I feel sorry for you," Ron said.

"Actually I do very well in there," she said. "Have you two seen Snape and Shannon?"

"No, why?" asked Harry.

"They've been very touchy," she said pointing to them as they left the Great Hall.

Shannon had her arm intertwined with Snape's as they left. Suddenly, Malfoy jumped up from the Slytherin table and hurried out of the hall.

"What was that all about?" asked Hermione.

"I don't know," Ginny said as she jumped up and ran to the doors.

Harry returned his attention to his breakfast and by the time he was done, Ginny had not returned. "Shall we head to class?" he asked.

"Yes," Hermione said as she put down her cup.

Ron jumped up and gathered all of his belongings as he looked at the schedule once more. "Better take Ginny's things too," he said. "She should have taken it with her."

"She was following Malfoy," Harry said as she gathered Ginny's book bag. "Maybe we'll run into her on our way to Defense."

As they walked down the hallway towards their first class of the morning, the spotted Ginny hiding around a corner watching something.

"Ginny," spat Ron. "What are you doing?"

Ginny spun around and put a finger to her lips as she hurried over to them. "Ron, you git," she said. "You could've gotten me caught."

"Who were you spying on?" asked Ron.

"Here," Harry said handing her book bag to her.

"Malfoy that's who," Ginny said taking her bag.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"He cornered Shannon against a wall and started kissing her," said Ginny.

"What?" exclaimed the three of them.

"She's not enjoying it either," added Ginny. "It looks like she's pretending to be into it or something."

"What is she doing?" asked Hermione. "Something's going on."

"I'll see you in class, Draco," they heard Shannon say.

Suddenly, something wet touched Harry's hand. He jumped and looked at his side, there stood Morpheus, Shannon's black dog. He looked worried as he sat beside Harry. Then, Morpheus' ears perked up and he ran off towards where Malfoy and Shannon were.

"Let's get to class and take our seats," Harry said.

"I've got Hagrid right now so I better get moving," Ginny said. "See you at lunch."

"Bye," they said to her as she hurried down the hall.

They slowly walked down the hall towards the Dark Arts room. As they reached the wooden door, they heard a man's voice.

"I have to," said the raspy male voice.

"No!" Shannon said sharply. "It's too dangerous. We have to plan before we jump into anything."

"Why do you put yourself through this?" asked the voice. "Why do you allow snakes like him to touch you?"

"I do what I must for the mission," said Shannon, her voice shaky. "I will always do what has to be done."

"The day you saved me I swore to protect you and stay by your side until you no longer needed me," said the voice.

"And you are," she said. "But we must be careful. Now you better leave before someone comes."

"Okay," the voice said. "I'll see you tonight if I can."

The room fell silent as a window opened and someone ran up the stone stairs. Harry waited a couple minutes before opening the door and walking into the classroom with Ron and Hermione behind him.

This room was larger than some of the others at Hogwarts. Four large window's lined the wall to the left of the door and a stone staircase ran along the wall opposite the door leading up to an office. Between each window stood a large bookcase. Each was filled with something different. One held miscellaneous body parts in glass jars filled with liquid. Another held miscellaneous creatures also in glass jars with liquid. The others held books and dangerous looking objects.

This year, instead of desks, large dark green couches and chairs were placed around the outside of the room. A large, wooden, low to the ground table sat in the middle of the room. In the middle of the table sat a large water fountain composed of hematite and crystals. Around the table sat several candles in-groups of three and four. The running water created a soothing sound that filled the room.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked around the room as they sat down on the nearest couch. They noticed a large rectangular wooden box hidden in the shadows of the room. On the front of the box, clearly carved into the wood, was a large cross. Hermione stood and walked over to the box.

As she reached out to touch the engraved cross, a voice shouted, "Stop!"

Hermione flinched as she looked up towards the voice. There standing at the top of the stairs was Shannon, her eyes narrow and filled with caution.

"Never touch a cross that is carved into a wooden box," warned Shannon.

"What's inside?" asked Harry.

"You'll see," Shannon said, the edges of her lips curling. "Take your seat."

With a wave of Shannon's hand a large black sheet fell from the ceiling and draped itself over the box. She smiled at them and then disappeared back into her office. Hermione quickly took her seat beside Harry and glanced at the box out of the corner of her eye.

"Forget it," Harry said, noticing his lover.

Hermione looked at him. Even though they had been going out for a short period of time, Harry still knew how she worked due to the seven years they had been friends. She smiled at him but took one last look at the box. Slowly, one by one, their fellow Gryffindors and Slytherin house arrived and took their seat. By the time the last student was seated, the room was divided Gryffindors on one side and Slytherins on the other.

The heavy door leading into the classroom suddenly slammed shut on its own. The sound of it closing boomed through the room and echoed down the halls. Without warning, the shutters of the four tall windows shut, plunging them into darkness. The only light came from the candles that littered the floor.

As the students talked in a low whisper, a door opened somewhere in the room. A clicking sound caught their attention and the whispering stopped. The clicking sound stopped and the room fell silent. Then the shutters on the windows opened and light flooded the room.

Standing before the black sheet covered box was Shannon. She was dressed in a pair of tight, low rider, dark blue jeans, a tight dark green long sleeved shirt, a pair of black ankle high-heeled boots, and a black robe that skirted the her ankles. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail that cascaded over her shoulder.

"Welcome," Shannon said with a grin. "As you learned last night I'm Professor Darconia your new Dark Arts teacher."

A young girl with light brown hair and brown eyes raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss…" said Shannon not knowing the young lady's name.

"Parvati Patil," she said.

"Miss Parvati, what is your question?" asked Shannon.

"What is under the black sheet?" asked Parvati.

"You'll see," smiled Shannon. "But first I'm sure all of you have questions you would like to ask me that does not have to do with the black sheet behind me."

Parvati raised her hand again. "How many wizarding schools are there in America?" she asked.

"Four," Shannon said.

A young girl with dark brown hair raised her hand. "How many years of schooling do you go through?" she asked.

"Ten," said Shannon. "What's your name?"

"Lavender Brown," she said.

"Yes, Draco," Shannon said.

"Which Hogwarts house would you like to be in if you were a student?" asked Malfoy.

"We're not getting into this conversation again," said Shannon.

"Why not?" asked Ron.

"Because I have every trait that each house stands for," Shannon said. "Gryffindor for bravery, Hufflepuff for loyalty, Ravenclaw for intelligent, and Slytherin for my determination to be the best."

The room fell silent. Then Hermione's hand went into the air.

"Yes?" said Shannon.

"What kind of creatures have you come across in your life?" asked Hermione.

"Many," Shannon said. "I once ran into a Werewolf. I was in Germany, the Black Forest to be exact, and I was hunting a Vampire who had murdered a friend of mine. I had run off on my own and there in a cave was a Werewolf. Not to happy to see me either."

"Oh my," said Parvati. "Did you find the Vampire?"

"No," she said. "I had to come home before it was found. Shall we get to our lesson today?"

The room filled with groans.

"Can anyone tell me why, let's say, a dark wizard would use Vampires and or Werewolves for their dirty deeds?" asked Shannon.

"They can see at night," Hermione said. "Vampires can sneak into a house without a sound."

"Werewolves kill anything that moves," Malfoy said.

"Good, good," Shannon said. "Anything else?"

"Both can be killed and then you wouldn't be able to find out who used them," Harry said.

"Good," said Shannon. "Dementors are another good creature to use. I've heard that there are several students here at Hogwarts that can conjure a Patronus charm. Is that true?"

"Yes," the Gryffindors said proudly.

"Harry's the best one," said Seamus.

It wasn't a secret that most of the students knew spells that were far beyond their years. It also wasn't a secret that Harry was the best one.

"Mr. Potter," Shannon said. "Would you be so kind as to demonstrate for us?"

"There's no Dementors around," Harry said.

Shannon smiled as she closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few moments, a large trunk flouted down the stairs and settled behind her. She motioned for Harry to stand up and take his place before her as she moved behind the trunk. As she opened the trunk a large billow of black fog raised up and took the shape of a Dementor.

As it floated towards Harry, he raised up his want and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

A sudden burst of light flooded from the tip of Harry's wand and there, before him, stood a giant blue stag. The stag reared up and the Dementor was pushed back into the trunk. Once Shannon had closed and locked the trunk, she walked forward and touched the side of the stag's face.

The stag slowly evaporated into thin air and Shannon sat on the trunk behind her. She was pale as she stared at Harry. Her dark blue eyes suddenly changed to a brilliant green and then back to the dark blue color. Harry stared at her in amazement.

"Please take your seat, Mr. Potter," Shannon said. "Shall we move on then?"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

As Harry sat down, Morpheus came out of the shadows with a bag in his mouth. Shannon took the bag from him and stuck her hand inside. When she withdrew her hand, she was holding a bottle of water.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?" she asked.

"Water?" said Ron.

"Yes, but it's more than just _water_," she said. "Look at the bottle very closely."

"There's a cross on the front," said Pansy.

"Good, now what does that tell you about the water?" she asked.

"It's has something to do with a church," Seamus said.

"What's a church?" asked Neville.

"A church is a building where muggles go to talk to 'God'," she said. "God is believed to be the creator of the world and everyone on it in the muggle world."

"It's holy water," Hermione said.

"Good job, Miss Granger," she said setting it down and sticking her hand into the bag again and pulled out a wooden cross. "This is too easy. This is a cross. A holy object in the muggle world."

Shannon set the cross beside the water and pulled out stake. "What's that?" asked Pansy.

"It's a stake," Malfoy said proudly. "My father owns plenty of them."

"Your father owns a lot of things," said Shannon sharply as she pulled out a clear orb. "Lumos."

The clear orb suddenly lit up like a light bulb, but not as blinding. "What is that?" asked Hermione.

"Catch," Shannon said tossing it to her. "I know that no one recognizes this object."

"Is it holy?" asked Neville.

Shannon smiled. "No," she said laughed. "It's called a Sun Orb. We use this to chase out night creatures."

Hermione passed it along to Harry who passed it to Ron. "So you can throw one of these into a cave and the nocturne creatures come running out?" she said.

"Exactly," Shannon said. "They believe it's the sun and run out thinking it's safer than being in the cave or wherever they are."

"Where can you buy one of these Sun Orbs?" asked Malfoy as he looked at it.

"Forget it," said Shannon taking it from him. "Nox. Only the American Wizarding Government has these and they don't give them out to just anyone."

"Do they give them to Aurors?" asked Neville.

"I haven't met an Auror yet who didn't have one in their pocket," she said.

"What's under the black sheet?" asked Malfoy.

"I think it's about time to show you," she said standing up.

Morpheus grabbed hold of the black sheet and quickly pulled it off to reveal a tall rectangular wood box. In the center on the front was an engraved cross. Shannon slowly ran her hand over the cross before turning her attention back to her students.

"Does anyone have a guess as to what might be inside of this?" she asked darkly.

"A werewolf?" suggested Dean.

"Maybe," Shannon said. "Mr. Weasley?"

"Ghoul?" said Ron.

"Maybe," she said. "Mr. Potter? Do you have any ideas? Say the first thing that comes to mind."

"Er – vampire?" Harry said, saying the first thing that came to mind.

The corners of Shannon's mouth curled as she walked out of the shadows. "Let's find out, shall we?" she said turning her back to them.

The shutters once again slammed closed, plunging them into semidarkness. She waved her wand and the sound of a rusty lock opening filled the room. The front of the box slowly swung open and a soft hissing noise emitted from the box.

"Good morning, Angelo," said Shannon walking back to the trunk she sat on. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Of course," said a deep voice with a thick accent.

"Why don't you come out and join us?" suggested Shannon as she sat on the trunk. "No one is going to hurt you. Their all school children."

"Last time you said that I ended up with a knife in my gut," said a young man as he stepped out of the box.

He had wavy brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. His eyes were a golden yellow and his skin was an ivory color. He wore a black suit, a navy blue shirt, a black tie, and black shoes.

"Everyone this is Angelo," introduced Shannon. "He's a friend of mine from Spain."

"You use to be a hunter," said Angelo sitting on the trunk. "Chasing me with stakes and holy water. Until that one full moon when I saved you from that Werewolf."

"I thought we agreed not to speak of that night," Shannon hissed.

"How can you be friends with a vampire?" asked Pansy holding onto Malfoy's arm. "Won't he kill you?"

"When he tries I just show him my stake," said Shannon sitting beside Angelo as she played with a silver cross around her neck. "Ask questions cause we've got more stuff to learn today."

As Harry looked at Angelo, he noticed a dark brown mark on the back of each hand resembling the cross around Shannon's neck.

"How old are you?" asked Parvati.

"Parvati, that's rude," said Lavender.

"It's okay, ladies," Angelo said with a sly smile. "I am a hundred and twenty."

"Ooh," the two girls said.

"Where are you from?" asked Hermione.

"Romania," said Angelo. "And who is this lovely flower?"

Shannon thought for a moment and then said, "Hermione Granger. Gryffindor."

Angelo took Hermione's hand into his own and gently kissed the top of her hand.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Granger," he said looking into her eyes. "You are quite beautiful."

His eyes moved to his right and laid upon Harry. As Harry looked into his eyes he heard Angelo's voice inside of his head. "Delicious," said Angelo. "Keep her close to you. Don't loose her." Then his voice was gone.

Angelo let go of Hermione's hand turned to Shannon. "Do you have anything to eat?" he asked.

"I think so," Shannon said standing up. "I'll be right back."

Shannon disappeared into the shadows. The sound of her shoes clicking on the stone steps echoed in the room. As the clicking sound faded, Malfoy asked, "How many people have you killed?"

Angelo narrowed his eyes and looked at the blond young man. "Too many to count," he said harshly looking at the young lady beside Malfoy. "What is your name, my dear?"

"Pansy Perkins," said Pansy shyly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Perkins," Angelo said kissing her hand.

Malfoy sneered as Shannon's voice carried down to them from the balcony.

"Angelo, come here please," she said.

As Angelo stood and walked away, he seemed to float over to the stairs. His footsteps were silent. He disappeared into the shadows and moments later the sound of the heavy wooden door at the top of the stairs closed. The room fell silent.

"What a bunch of crap," said Malfoy with a sneer. "Vampires are meant only to be assassins."

"Shut it, Malfoy," said Harry sharply.

"Most of their kind are with Voldemort already," hissed Malfoy.

Several people hissed at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, almost the entire Gryffindor class, which increased the size of Malfoy's smile. A sudden growling sound caught Malfoy's attention as Morpheus walked out of the shadows and stood between him and Harry.

The sound of bats chattering caught everyone's attention as they looked around the dark room. Suddenly, Shannon and Angelo stepped out of the shadows. Shannon held her arm as they sat down on the trunk. She looked slightly paler than after she had touched the Patronum. A red spot glistened on the corner of Angelo's mouth as Harry looked at him.

_Blood?_ Thought Harry. _Who's though? Shannon's?_

"Okay everyone," said Shannon. "Everyone open your books to chapter 5. As you can see, I will be jumping to different chapters throughout the semester. It all depends on what I believe you need to know right now, based on what's happening around the world."

"We're learning about Vampires now why?" asked Malfoy, leaning further into the couch.

"Because the Dark Lord is calling for the Vampires to join him," said Shannon. "Now please begin your reading and no more questions."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The rest of the class period passed in silence. As the end of class bell rang, everyone gathered their things and quickly filed out of the room. Angelo disappeared into Shannon's office before she opened the windows and let the light flood in, blinding those who remained in the room. Malfoy, hand-in-hand with Pansy, hurried from the room before Harry, Ron, and Hermione had even stood up. They looked at each other and then at the door. Their next period was a free period so they stayed behind to talk with Shannon and see what was going on.

"Excuse me, Miss Darconia," said Hermione as the door closed to the classroom.

"Call me Shannon guys," said Shannon. "The only time you need to be formal is when someone else is around."

"We've got a few questions we'd like to ask you," said Harry.

Shannon's smiling face quickly faded in a grim expression. "Not now and most certainly not here," she said walking over to her desk. "Meet me at the Astronomy tower tonight say after dinner. I'll tell you what I can. But until then you must keep everything hush hush. Understand?"

The three of them looked at each other with uncertainty but quickly agreed if it was the only way to learn what was going on.

"Of course we will," said Ron. "We've got loads of secrets from the last seven years."

"I know you all do," Shannon said sternly. "I'll talk to all of you tonight then. You better hurry, my next class is going to start coming in and I've got to prepare."

With a wave of her hand, the wooden coffin vanished and a large basin filled with crystal blue water became the centerpiece of the table. Several figurines also appeared on the edges of the tables.

"Let's go," Harry said, as Shannon moved about the room moving one thing and then another. "We'll talk to her tonight."

"I wonder what's got her on edge," said Ron as they went out onto the grounds.

"Who knows," said Hermione. "But she sure didn't want to talk to us in that room."

"Did anyone else notice there were no pictures in her classroom?" asked Harry as they sat beside the lake.

"No," said Ron. "Why?"

"Well all of our teachers have pictures of witches and wizards in their rooms, don't they?" Harry asked. "But why doesn't Shannon?"

They sat there in silence for a moment before Hermione spoke up. "Just another thing to ask her tonight," she said.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and sighed.

Their day went by quickly and soon it was time for dinner. As they entered the Great Hall, they were greeted by the voices of their classmates and confused by the arrangement of the tables. Everyone was deep in conversation about why the tables had been set to the sides of the Hall. Once everyone was seated at their house tables, Dumbledore strolled into the hall with Shannon at his heals. The hall fell silent as all eyes watched the two.

"Good evening everyone," said Dumbledore as Shannon sat beside him. "Tonight we have a very special treat."

"I wonder what it is," whispered Dean.

"Something cool I hope," said Seamus.

"Miss Darconia has agreed to do a performance for us tonight that she and a few others perform in America," explained Dumbledore. "So as we eat, we shall also be entertained."

Everyone clapped as Dumbledore sat down. Shannon stood and walked to the end of staff table. She quickly removed her robe and handed it to Hagrid who in return handed her a long wooden staff. She wore a pair of blue jeans, a black tank top, and a pair of black boots with a very small heel. Her hair was pulled back into a high tight ponytail that was then braided. As she stepped into the center of the floor, she began to twirl the staff around in her hands.

As Shannon began to dance, she smacked the floor with one end of the staff and flames shot out the other end towards the ceiling. When she smacked the other end, snow exploded into the air and slowly began to fall onto the students and staff. She stopped in the center of the hall and held the staff high above her head. All eyes watched as two birds flew down onto the staff. One was a black raven and the other was a red phoenix. Then out of nowhere a large wolf leapt over the table closest to the doors and jumped over the staff, as well, landing behind Shannon.

Shannon quickly spun around to face the staff table. As the two birds were spun around, their image quivered and in the blink of an eye they were two twin girls of eight years old. They were both dressed in matching black ankle length skirts, dark blue peasant tops, and wore no shoes. Their long black hair was pulled back into tight braids and they both had dark blue eyes.

The wolf jumped over the staff and as it landed it transformed into a young woman. She looked just like Shannon except for her shirt was red and a red ribbon was tied to the end of her braid. Shannon dropped to one knee allowing the two girls to jump off the staff.

The twin children each drew their wands and faced each other. As they raised their wands towards the ceiling, they each muttered an incantation. Red and green sparks shot from the tips of their wands and swirled into the air. The glittering red sparks quickly shaped themselves into a dragon gliding through the air while the green sparks formed a phoenix.

Shannon raised her wand into the air and shouted, "Nox."

The candles and sparks extinguished throwing them into darkness. When the candles re-lit, the four performers had vanished leaving only a single red rose in the center of the room. Everyone looked about the room trying to find the performers, but their attention went straight to the rose when it bursted into flames. Out of the smoke stepped Shannon carrying one of the girls and on the opposite side the other two appeared. The rose quickly extinguished and vanished as the smoke cleared.

They turned and faced each side of the hall and bowed. Applause filled the room closely followed by cheers. Dumbledore stood and applauded before raising his hands to silence the room.

"That was a most delightful show," said Dumbledore as the four women watched him. "I have not seen something this entertaining in years. We thank you for this display of talent."

"Thank you, Headmaster," said Shannon. "It was a most unexpected request, but welcomed at the same time."

"Here tonight with Miss Darconia is her twin sister Ivy, and her twin daughters Blythe and Starla," introduced Dumbledore.

The hall quickly filled with chatter at this news. Shannon led the way to the staff table where four more chairs had been added. Beside Dumbledore sat Shannon, then Blythe, Starla, and finally Ivy who immediately struck up a conversation with Professor Flitwick. Dumbledore quickly entertained the twins with dancing silverware and sweets.

"That was an exciting show," said Ron.

"Yeah it was," said Ginny as they ate their dinner. "They're pretty good."

"Hey guys," said Hermione to Ron and Harry.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Snape's been looking at Shannon for a long time," Hermione said. "I think he likes her."

Harry and Ron looked at Snape. He indeed was looking at Shannon intently.

"What do you think is going on there?" asked Ron looking at Harry. "You reckon their seeing each other?"

"I doubt it," said Hermione taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"You never know," said Harry not taking his eyes off Snape. "I'm just curious what she has to tell us tonight."

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" said Dumbledore standing up.

The room fell silent as everyone waited for the headmaster to speak.

"We will be doing something very different for Halloween," he said. "This year we will be having a traditional American Halloween. When that time comes closer your teachers will be explaining everything to you. But the night grows weary and it is time to say good night. Pleasant dreams to one and all."

The hall filled with clapping as everyone stood and headed to bed. Once again, Harry was one of the last people to leave the hall. Beside him were Hermione and Ginny chatting about the performance. His mind was else where when a familiar voice caught his ear.

"Shannon, would you like to join me for an evening stroll?" asked Snape.

"That would be delightful," Shannon said. "I'll see my sister and daughters off and meet you at the staircase?"

Harry glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, walking behind him were Snape, Shannon, the twins, and Ivy. Snape caught Harry's glance and glared.

"Keep moving, Potter," hissed Snape. "Or it'll be detention."

"Yes, sir," said Harry as he followed everyone else up the staircase. "Good night, Miss Darconia."

"Good night, Harry," Shannon said disappearing out the front doors.

"What was that about?" asked Hermione glancing behind them.

"Shannon's going for a walk with Snape," explained Harry.

"Cloak?" asked Hermione as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah," Harry said.

"I'm going to run upstairs first," Hermione said. "Meet you down here."

Harry and Ron quickly ran up the stairs with the other boys. As they entered their dorm room, Ron noticed a package on his bed.

"What's this?" asked Ron picking it up.

"Who's it from?" asked Harry as Dean, Neville, and Seamus climbed into bed.

"Doesn't say," Ron said opening it. "Blimey."

"What?" whispered Harry from his trunk.

"It's an invisibility cloak," whispered Ron.

"Cool," said Harry pulling out his own invisibility cloak. "Let's go finish our homework."

"Okay," Ron said as they left the room.

Beside the fireplace was Hermione with something in her hands. She hurried over to the boys as they jumped the last couple steps.

"Look what I got," said Hermione holding up a cloak.

"Another invisibility cloak," said Ron. "I got one too."

"Someone thinks we need them I guess," said Harry. "Let's go. We need to get to the astronomy tower."

Hermione and Ron both nodded as they threw on their cloaks. They quietly slipped out into the empty and dark hallway. With each one having their own cloak, it made the trip go much faster and before they knew it they were in the astronomy tower. As Harry reached the top of the stairs, he stopped so suddenly that Ron's head smacked into his back.

"What's wrong?" asked Ron.

"Shannon's with Snape," whispered Harry. "Be quiet and follow me."

They quickly entered the tower and stood against the wall making sure not to make noise. Shannon was sitting in the window seal smiling sweetly as Snape spoke.

"You have to be firm with the students," said Snape with a cruel grin on his face. "Especially the Potter boy. He enjoys being in the center of attention. Along with his two friends Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger."

"You've had experience with them, I see," said Shannon. "I'll be sure to keep an eye on them."

"I must say, I was quite surprised when I heard Dumbledore had hired someone so young for Dark Arts," said Snape. "But from what I've heard your no beginner. The Slytherins enjoy what you're teaching them."

"From what I've heard everyone enjoys my class," Shannon said slipping out of the window. "You know, Severus, your students think you're too predicable."

Snape look surprised. His eyes scanned the young woman's face for any sign of a joke. He walked over to her, pressing her against the window.

"What do you mean?" asked Snape.

"I've heard several of your students, from all different grades predicting what you would teach the next week and then I find out they were right," Shannon said. "You need to surprise them. Do something out of the ordinary."

"Did you have something in mind?" Snape asked.

"Change your appearance," suggested Shannon putting her hands on his chest. "Try something new."

"Would you like me too?" he asked.

"I'd like you to surprise yourself," she said with a smile.

Suddenly, Filch came flying into the room panting. His eyes were wild and his face was pale. Snape spun around, hiding Shannon behind him

"What is it?" barked Snape.

"Some of your students, Professor," Filch said. "Caught them sneaking outside."

"What are those idiots doing this time," Snape hissed turning to Shannon. "We'll continue this conversation tomorrow."

"Good night," Shannon said as Snape followed Filch. "Nice go, Ivy."

"What did she do?" asked Harry uncovering his face.

"She and my girls snooped around the Slytherin common room," said Shannon with a smile. "Been there long?"

"Few minutes," said Hermione uncovering her face. "I thought for a moment Snape was going to kiss you."

Shannon grinned. "So did I," she said as Ron uncovered his face. "Ron, please close the door. I don't want anyone to over hear our conversation. So what's the first question?"

"How do you know the Malfoy's?" asked Harry.

"I was visiting London a few years ago," said Shannon. "I accidentally went down Nocturne Alley, got lost, and I bumped into Lucius and Draco. Let's just say, Lucius was mistaken about my character and never figured it out. When my ministry heard about it they told me to try and get close to the Malfoy family to gather information."

"So you bonded with Draco," said Hermione.

"And with Lucius," Shannon said. "Draco's mother paid me no attention so I was able to get around without a problem sometimes. That stupid house elf on the other hand, he nearly got me caught a few times."

"Dobby?" asked Harry.

"That's his name," said Shannon. "Stupid thing was lucky I didn't kill him or set him free."

"I'm glad you didn't kill Dobby," said Hermione.

"Dumbledore told me about S.P.E.W.," Shannon said. "I understand but I'm not too sure about it. But that's a conversation for another day. Next question."

"Why doesn't your class room have photos?" asked Ron.

"I hate the feeling that people are watching me," explained Shannon. "And having a room full of moving talking photos really puts me on edge. I'm trying to do two jobs and me being paranoid is not going to help."

"Two jobs?" said Harry.

"Dark Arts and then something else," Shannon said.

"Phoenix?" asked Harry.

Shannon nodded. "Any other questions?" she asked.

"Why are you hanging around with Snape?" asked Ron.

"It gets me close to Draco while we're in school," she said. "I think Snape's interesting and I don't want to hear anything about that subject."

"Who were you talking to earlier today in your office before class?" asked Harry.

"That is none of your business and I don't want any of you to go snooping around," she said. "Understood?"

"Yes," said Harry and Ron.

"What do you really look like?" asked Hermione. "You're a Metamorphmagus so we never really get to see the real you."

Shannon smiled as she ran her fingers through her long black hair with red tips. As her fingers passed over the red, the bright color quickly darkened to black. She quickly blinked and her dark blue eyes brightened to a light blue color. Her short fingernails grew longer and changed to a glittering dark green color.

"This is the real me," said Shannon. "Not much difference. You three should get to bed before you get caught. More questions can be answered another night. Now go."

Once their cloaks were in place, they quickly followed Shannon out of the tower and to the grand staircase. Standing there, as if waiting for her, was Snape. He looked tired and annoyed. But as his eyes set upon Shannon, a grin crept across his face.

"Waiting for me," teased Shannon with a smile.

"Yes," Snape said. "I'd like to talk to you before you went to bed about what you said earlier. About me changing something."

"Okay," said Shannon as she followed Snape down the hall.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron watched as they disappeared around the corner before climbing the stairs and going to bed.


	22. Chapter 22

The pants thatinspired the onesShannon is wearing can be found at under pants. I couldn't really figure out how to describe them but I tried my best and I thought everyone would like to know what I was trying to go for. Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 22

September passed by quickly and so did the first half of October. Harry and Ron were busy with Quidditch practice so they left Hermione to talk with Shannon about continuing their conversation from the Astronomy tower so many nights ago. But Shannon was making that a quite difficult task in itself.

"So she just vanished when you followed her around the corner?" asked Harry at lunch.

"Pretty much yes," said Hermione. "She must have transfigured or has an invisibility cloak with her."

"We'll talk to her sooner or later," said Harry standing up. "Let's go, Ron."

"Where are you two going?" asked Hermione as Ron stood up.

"We have to practice for Quidditch," said Ron throwing on his jacket. "Big game coming up."

"I'll see you both in class then," Hermione said as they left.

"Who are we playing against?" asked Ron once again.

"Hufflepuff," said Harry as they entered the Quidditch pitch. "Who's that?"

Before them was a figure sitting on a broom floating inches above the ground. As Harry and Ron watched, the broom lifted the figure higher and higher into the air. The gentle breeze played with the person's hair as they floated back towards the ground. With a single motion, the person jumped from the broom about a foot from the ground. Harry hurried forward as the person stumbled and nearly fell.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked jogging forward.

"I'm fine," said the person turning around.

"Shannon," said Harry looking at their face. "What are you doing out here?"

Shannon was dressed in a pair of black baggy-legged pants, a tight black tank top, a pair of black boots, and a black beanie. The pants she wore, had several zippers and chains criss-crossed across each leg. Her long black hair was pulled into a ponytail at the base of her skull. With the dark make-up she wore, it made her appear sleep deprived.

"Hello, Harry," Shannon said with a smile. "Just flying. Helps me let out steam. You?"

"Quidditch practice," said Harry as Ron joined them.

"Your both really good," said Shannon. "I heard that Ron use to be really bad."

"Yeah," said Ron watching the broom. "Is your broom enchanted?"

Shannon looked behind her at the still floating broom. "No," she said. "It's always done that. Floats there at just the right height so if I want to lean on it I can."

"Cool," said Ron.

"So what kind of things can you guys do on your brooms?" asked Shannon. "Flips? Dives? Spins?"

"That's all Harry's things," said Ron. "I just usually fall off my broom."

"Or at least you use to," laughed Harry. "What can you do?"

"I can stand on my broom," Shannon said. "Hang upside down. Flips, dives, spins, and maybe something else but that's all I can think of."

"How do you hang upside down?" said Ron.

Shannon smiled as she sat with both legs on one side. The broom lifted into the air, several inches above Harry and Ron's heads. She leaned back and allowed her body to fall. As her body fell, her knees hooked on the broom and there she hung in the air. The guys were in aw as they watched her.

"It's easy," she said with a smile. "The other way is harder."

They watched as she swung herself back onto her broom. Once she had one leg on each side, she swung to one side and flipped upside down. Harry looked at her legs, noticing they were crossed and keeping her from falling to the ground.

"Cool," said Ron.

"But this way makes it harder to get back onto your broom," she said.

The broom lowered to the ground as Shannon allowed her arms to fall down. As her hands touched the ground, she uncrossed her legs and stood up. But as the blood rushed towards her legs, she fell backwards onto the ground.

"You okay?" asked Harry kneeling beside her.

"Blood rushing from my head," she laughed. "I stood up too fast."

"Do you want to practice with us?" asked Harry.

"I don't play Quidditch," Shannon said standing up. "In fact we don't have Quidditch in America."

"It's easy," said Harry. "All I'm doing is trying to make a goal while Ron tries to stop me."

"Sounds easy enough," said Shannon.

They all climbed onto their brooms and floated into the air. Once Ron took his place in front of the goals, Harry tossed Shannon the Quaffle.

"Just throw it into one of the hoops," Harry said. "And try to get it past Ron."

"Okay," Shannon said.

As she threw the ball, Ron dove and caught it.

"Throw it just a little harder," said Ron tossing it back to her.

This time, Shannon was able to throw the Quaffle past Ron and through the right goal. Ron retrieved the ball and tossed it to Harry. They practiced for nearly half an hour before Shannon had to go. Ron and Harry remained outside practicing for nearly two hours, before going back to the castle for class.

Before dinner was even halfway over, Ron disappeared back to the common room to finish his homework from Dark Arts leaving Harry and Hermione alone. Ginny took Ron's seat and slipped her hand into Harry's.

"Hey, Harry," whispered Ginny leaning towards him.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Thanks for pretending to be my boyfriend," Ginny whispered. "You're a really good guy."

"Do you need my help anymore?" asked Harry.

Ginny shook her head. "No, Anthony has finally left me alone," she said.

"Your welcome," Harry said kissing the side of her head. "Glad I could help."

"I've got to go finish some homework," said Ginny. "I'll see you later."

"Bye," said Harry as she left.

"What did she need?" asked Hermione.

"To thank me for helping her with her guy problem," Harry said.

"So you're done helping her," Hermione said.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Since we don't have Ron hanging around us, do you want to go somewhere?" whispered Hermione.

"Room of Requirements?" whispered Harry with a grin.

Hermione smiled and left. Harry took one last sip of pumpkin juice before he stood up and left the great hall. He hurried down the hall making sure not to run into any unwanted person. As he turned the last corner towards the Room of Requirements, a strong hand rested on his shoulder and spun him around putting him face to face with Ron.

"Ron," said Harry. "You scared me."

"Sorry, mate," said Ron. "Why are you heading to the Room of Requirements?"

"I was just walking," lied Harry. "Not really paying attention to where I go. Thought you were doing homework."

"I was until I realized I didn't understand a thing," said Ron. "I came to ask if I could get your help since your done."

"Yeah sure," said Harry following Ron back to the common room.

Before Harry turned the corner he looked down the hall hoping to see Hermione, but saw nothing. Excuses flew through his mind as they got closer and closer to the common room. But none were good enough to get him away from Ron and back to the young woman waiting for him. As they stepped into the common room, Harry saw Hermione sitting with Ginny beside the fire.

"Everything's upstairs so I'll run up and get it," said Ron disappearing upstairs.

"Harry," said Hermione rushing to him. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there. Ginny stopped me and asked for my help."

"Don't worry," said Harry. "I didn't make it to the door before Ron found me. I'm glad neither of us ended up waiting for the other."

"Me too," said Hermione.

"Harry, what do you think?" asked Ginny.

"Huh?" said Harry.

"Her hair," Hermione said.

Ginny's hair was pulled back into several layers instead of her usual ponytail.

"It's cute," said Harry with a smile. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"No one," said Ginny returning the smile. "I thought I would try something different with my hair."

Harry smiled.

"Okay, Harry," said Ron jumping the last step.

"What do you have so far?" asked Harry.

Ron handed him a piece of parchment and sat down in one of the chairs beside the fireplace. Harry quickly read what he had written.

"Your doing fine," said Harry handing Ron the paper. "You're almost done, too. Just mention something about the Vampires."

"Okay," Ron said sitting down beside the fire.

Harry and Hermione watched as their young red headed friend worked feverishly to finish his homework. Ginny shook her head and disappeared upstairs with a couple other sixth year girls. Hermione sat down in the chair closest to the fire as Harry sat beside her. The fire blazed and glittered like tiny red and gold creatures dancing for joy.

"I wonder what we're going to do this year for Halloween," said Hermione not looking away from the fire.

"I dunno," Harry said. "But I bet it'll be fun."

"Dumbledore and Shannon will make sure of that," Hermione said looking at him.

"How's this, Harry?" asked Ron handing Harry his homework.

Harry scanned the paper and said, "You're done."

"Good," Ron said rolling up the parchment. "I'm going to bed. See you both tomorrow."

"Night," Harry said as Ron disappeared upstairs. "Finally."

"I don't think we're going to be able to sneak away anytime soon," Hermione sighed. "Not with you having Quidditch practice and games."

"We'll find a time," said Harry with a smile. "It may take a while but it'll happen. You look tired why don't you go to bed and get some sleep."

"I should," said Hermione standing up. "Night, Harry."

Hermione kissed Harry quickly on the cheek before dashing upstairs. Harry smiled before going to bed himself. As he entered the dorm room, he saw that everyone was sound asleep already. Quietly and quickly, Harry changed and climbed into bed. Before he knew he too was sound asleep and dreaming of a young woman who he was sure was dreaming of him.

The next morning dawned dark and cloudy. Black rain clouds hung in the air blotting out the sun as an icy breeze played with the leaves outside. Harry descended down the stairs from the boys' dorm rooms and saw Hermione standing in front of the fire. Dean and Seamus bounced down the stairs behind him giving a cheery hello as they left for breakfast.

"Mornin', Harry," said Dean.

"Hello, Harry," Seamus said as they left.

"Hey guys," Harry said walking over to Hermione. "Bit chilly today, isn't it?"

"Just a bit," said Hermione with a warm smile.

"If I wasn't afraid of someone catching us I'd wrap my arms around you," Harry said, "and help keep you warm."

Hermione giggled at the thought and said, "Just seeing you keeps me warm. Shall we go to breakfast?"

"Yeah," said Harry leading her out of the common room. "Have you seen Ron this morning?"

"No," Hermione said. "Why he wasn't in bed when you got up?"

"No," Harry said. "His bed was empty and the guys haven't seen him either."

"Maybe he went to breakfast already," suggested Hermione as they descended the main stairs.

Harry shrugged as they followed a group of Ravenclaw second years into the great hall. Sure enough there was Ron sitting at the Gryffindor table between Dean and Neville. Hermione and Harry quickly sat down between Ginny and Seamus. They looked up at the staff table and saw Shannon.

She wore a pair of dark blue low rider jeans, a tight black knit sweater, and a pair of black three-inch heeled boots. Her long hair was pulled tightly into a bun on the top of her head, held in place with black chopsticks, and several small silver hair clips were placed around the bun holding any stray hairs in place. Instead of her short nails, she had her long dark green nails. Around her neck was a silver necklace with a quarter sized, teardrop hematite stone dangling from the center. She wore her usual dark make-up tinted with red this time.

"She looks nice today," Harry said turning his attention to breakfast.

"I know," Hermione said. "I wonder what Snape and Malfoy are thinking."

"Probably the same thing," said Harry.

Hermione smiled as she ate her breakfast.

After breakfast Harry, Hermione, and Ron hurried to their Dark Arts class to get their seats. As Hermione pushed open the door, a black cloak whisked by and disappeared upstairs. They stepped into the classroom and looked around.

"Who was it?" asked Ron.

"I dunno," Hermione said sitting down on the couch. "All I saw was the cloak."

"You guys don't see Shannon, do you?" said Harry looking around.

"No why?" asked Ron.

"Ron, keep a watch out," said Harry stepping onto the stairs.

Harry carefully climbed the stairs leading up to Shannon's office. He listened as he stood in front of the door with hand on the knob. After a few moments of not hearing anything, he turned the knob and was about to open the door when a voice rang out.

"Don't you dare," hissed Shannon from right behind him.

Harry jumped and spun around to face her. Shannon's frown made him take a step back and thoughts of punishment flooded his mind. She rested a hand on his shoulder and sighed.

"Not yet," Shannon said with a small smile. "The time is not yet right for you to see what's in that room."

"Oh, okay," said Harry as his voice stumbled.

"Now, go sit down," she said pointing down the stairs.

Malfoy and the other Slytherins came bounding into the room as Harry, closely followed by Shannon, walked down the stairs.

"Looks like someone got in trouble," laughed Malfoy as he sat down.

"Draco," growled Shannon pointing her wand at him.

Draco smiled and said, "You won't do anything."

"Maybe I'll take a page out of Moody's book," she teased. "Wanna be a ferret again? Or maybe a mouse and then I can feed you to Morpheus."

Malfoy's face drained of all color as his eyes widened. He closed his mouth and sank into the couch. All of the Gryffindors bursted into laughter as Shannon picked up several small-throwing daggers.

"Today we will be learning hand-to-hand combat," Shannon said putting her wand away. "This is mandatory in America and Dumbledore has asked me to teach you."

"What's the point?" asked Malfoy.

"The point is when you get into a fight with your opponent and you both loose your wands," she hissed, "you will still be able to take the other person down. Unfortunately, I forgot to inform you ladies to wear some sort of pants. No worries, I have plenty of martial arts pants for you. If you all go behind the curtain you will see two piles one green for Slytherin and the other red for Gryffindor."

The girls all stood up and quickly went behind the curtain.

"Everyone please remove your robes we don't want them to get in the way or damaged," instructed Shannon turning towards the curtain. "Are you ladies almost done?"

The first girls to come back into sight were the Gryffindors. Instead of their navy blue skirts, they wore ruby red pants that tied at the waist. As the Slytherin girls came into sight, everyone saw that they wore the same kind of pants but in emerald green. Everyone removed their robes and placed them on the couches.

"Excellent," Shannon said. "Be sure to remove your robes and then we can begin. I have asked a friend to come and help us today. Everyone please say hello to Damian."

A tall young man with short shaggy dirty blond hair appeared at the top of the stairs. He wore black jeans, a baggy white t-shirt tucked in his pants, and white socks. His eyes were a gorgeous sapphire blue and he wore a pair of silver earrings.

"Hello, my dear," Damian said kissing Shannon on the top of her head.

Damian stood several inches above Shannon. His body was thin but muscular and you could see a couple scars on his arms and one on his neck.

"Damian is an old school mate of mine," said Shannon. "He will be helping us for the next couple of weeks to perfect our combat skills."

"It's an honor to be here and to teach such intelligent young men and women," said Damian with a smile. "Shall we begin."

"Of course," Shannon said pulling out her wand. "First we must remove the furniture and breakables and make this room safe for fighting."

She waved her wand above her head and in a slit second the room became bare. With another wave the stone floors became soft and everyone sank slightly.

"There," she said. "Now no one can get hurt if they fall."

"Everyone pair off," instructed Damian. "Guy and girl. Girls, now's your chance to take your anger out on the guys."

Everyone quickly paired off, Gryffindors with Gryffindors and Slytherins with Slytherins. All eyes were on their teachers when Shannon suddenly tried to kick Damian in the face but he blocked her by grabbing her ankle and then spun her around throwing her to the ground.

"That was fun," giggled Shannon as jumped to her feet. "Soon all of you will be able to do that."


End file.
